Job satisfaction at its peak in 20s and 30s, says study
Posted on: 25/Aug/2016 9:26:52 AM
A new study has said that if your job gives you satisfaction in your late 20s and 30s, then it will impact your overall health in your early 40s. The study, conducted by researchers at the Ohio State University, says that while job satisfaction had some impact on physical health, its effect was particularly strong for mental health. The study was presented in 2016 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting.
According to the study, Those who were less than happy with their work early in their careers, were more depressed and worried and had more trouble sleeping. And the direction of your job satisfaction - whether it is getting better or worse in your early career - has an influence on your later health.
Speaking about this, the researchers said, The good news is that people whose job satisfaction started low but got better over the course of their early career, didn`t have the health problems associated with consistently low or declining satisfaction. We found that there is a cumulative effect of job satisfaction on health that appears as early as your 40s. The results showed the importance that early jobs have on people`s lives. You don`t have to be near the end of your career to see the health impact of job satisfaction, particularly on your mental health.
The researchers used data from 6,432 Americans who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, which followed adults who were between the ages of 14 and 22 when the survey began in 1979. The NLSY79 is conducted by Ohio State`s Center for Human Resource Research for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For this study, the researchers examined job satisfaction trajectories for people from age 25 to 39. These participants then reported a variety of health measures after they turned 40. Participants rated how much they liked their jobs from one, dislike very much, to four, like very much.
Say the researchers, The average score of those classified as the low group was nearly three, indicating they liked their job fairly well. But there was a lot of variance in that group, meaning that it included all the people who said they disliked their jobs somewhat or very much. As was true for mental health, no effects were seen on physical health for those trending upward. It is important to remember that participants were studied when they were only in their 40s. The higher levels of mental health problems for those with low job satisfaction may be a precursor to future physical problems. Increased anxiety and depression could lead to cardiovascular or other health problems that won`t show up until they are older. The study ended before the Great Recession. The recession almost certainly increased job insecurity and dissatisfaction, and that could have resulted in more negative health effects.
