Surly Supervisors Take More Than Mental Toll On Workers
July 30, 2003
Two recent reports show that workplace morale and turnover rates might not be
the only by-product of workers who are stressed and unhappy, or even frustrated
with their bosses and jobs – worker health may be suffering, too.
In one study, researchers at
Britain’s
Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College looked at 28 health care assistants
for a period of three days to monitor the health impact of having a
less-than-desirable supervisor. Subjects, selected for the study based on their
answers to a previously-administered questionnaire in which half of the subjects
stated that they didn’t feel they were treated appropriately by their
supervisors, were fitted with blood pressure monitors that recorded the wearer’s
blood pressure every half-hour during a 12-hour period.
Researchers determined that even simple episodes of poor employee treatment,
including situations where a supervisor displayed favoritism, didn’t consider
employee input when making decisions or just dished out unfair treatment in
general, could endanger the worker’s health through spikes in the employee’s
blood pressure.
During the study in which subjects were not always working with the same
supervisor, researchers noted an increase in blood pressure whenever the
subjects were working with a supervisor they claimed to dislike. Additionally,
the blood pressure increase was even greater during instances when subjects
believed they were being treated unfairly.
According to the researchers, the spike in blood pressure that occurred during
the unfair treatment could be sufficient to be considered a risk factor for
heart disease and stroke.
In a separate study, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University also showed that
people with a positive attitude and outlook were less apt to be affected by the
common cold. During the study, over 300 healthy volunteers were interviewed to
determine each participant’s emotional state. Following the emotional
assessment, participants were exposed to the common cold. The results showed
that after five days, the participants who had a positive emotional style were
three times less likely to exhibit signs of the cold and of those who did, the
happy participants showed fewer signs and symptoms of illness than their less
positive counterparts.
Sources: CNNMoney; New Scientist
-- Jeanie Croasmun
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