A 20-year-long inclusive study on worker job satisfaction, recently published in the industry journal Health Psychology, demonstrates a causal link between employee health and workplace environments. After 20 years, 53 of the original 820 study participants had passed away; those same people were much more likely to have reported that they regularly faced harassment or hostile and stressful conditions in the workplace.
While the study was not a definitive one — it was observational in nature and was performed by correlating the results of an intake interview of each participant with his or her medical records through the years — and can only speculate that the hostile work environment was a contributing factor to the subjects’ demise, the results are persuasive.
Negative Coworkers Have a Huge Impact on the Psyche
Interestingly, the study results indicate that the attitude of the participant’s boss had less of an impact upon the worker than the attitude of his or her similarly situated coworkers. Subjects reporting low levels of support from their coworkers were more than twice more likely to die during the study’s 20-year span.
Psychologists surmise, and past studies have proven, that a lack of a support system related to one’s job — whether it be from coworkers, family members or friends — causes added mental stress that has a negative impact on one’s physical health. Researchers at Indiana Wesleyan University at Marion have concluded that workplace incivility is on the rise with nearly 90 percent of study participants reporting that they have been subjected to rude, disrespectful or insulting behavior at work, which is only adding to the stress many people feel on the job.
Even though the study’s results show that negative behavior by a boss may be less stressful in the short-term, a hostile work environment can result in high enough stress levels that an employee is effectively forced to quit (known in legal circles as “constructive termination” or “constructive discharge”), accept a demotion or take alternative assignments in order to relieve the strain. If you or a loved one is dealing with the consequences of a hostile work environment — one full of harassment, discrimination, derogation or undue stress — seek the advice of a skilled employment law attorney in your area to learn more about your rights and options under state and federal laws.
