It's Friday, and many of us are probably already looking longingly towards the weekend.
Exactly what you do when you leave work on a Friday 😀 #FridayFeeling #HappyFriday pic.twitter.com/ln3yZvQS5z
— Lord James 🎃🕷💀 (@LordFawlty) October 21, 2016
However, a new report suggests that for some, their stressful work lives could actually be helping to improve the quality or, more particularly, the longevity of their lives.
Researchers from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University analyzed the lives of 2,363 people in their sixties for seven years. Their report found that those in high-stress jobs were 34 % less likely to have died than those in less stressful professional roles.
It's good news for everyone who's ever frantically pushed to meet a deadline.
However, as ever in life, there is a catch. Stressful jobs appear to be beneficial for our health and reduce the risk of death, if the work is also paired with freedom in decision making. It allows workers to gain experience in managing difficult situations.
Unfortunately, for those people the researchers monitored who had high-stress jobs, but were micro-managed with limited autonomy, there was a 15.4% higher chance of early death.
What my level of stress looks like trying to balance school work. pic.twitter.com/4H9pYmgGI1
— ॐ (@Destiny730_) October 18, 2016
Erik Gonzalez-Mule, the paper's lead author, said:
"These findings suggest that stressful jobs have clear negative consequences for employee health when paired with low freedom in decision making. When you don't have the necessary resources to deal with a demanding job, you do this other stuff. You might eat more, you might smoke, you might engage in some of these things to cope with it."
The researchers advise managers to allow their employees to set their own goals and inspire better morale, by delegating them more control over their workloads.
