Social interaction at work results in lower burnout, says study
Posted on: 06/Oct/2016 10:14:54 AM
A new study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Review says that not just the right job, but the relationships with colleagues and the social groups we form at the workplace may be linked to better health and lower burnout. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia.
Speaking about this, the researchers say, This study is the first large-scale analysis showing that organisational identification is related to better health. These results show that both performance and health are enhanced to the extent that workplaces provide people with a sense of we and us. Social identification contributes to both psychological and physiological health, but the health benefits are stronger for psychological health. We are less burnt out and have greater well-being when our team and our organisation provide us with a sense of belonging and community - when it gives us a sense of wellness. We were surprised to find that that the more women there were in a sample, the weaker the identification-health relationship. This was a finding that we had not predicted and, in the absence of any prior theorising, we can only guess what gives rise to this effect. However, one of the reasons may relate to the fact that we know from other research that there are still many workplaces that have somewhat masculine cultures. This could mean that even when female employees identify with their team or organisation, they still feel somewhat more marginal within their team or organization.
