People's happiness at work usually dips mid career - now researchers think they know why

If you're in or not far from your thirties, you're part of the age group that previous research shows is most likely to experience lower workplace wellbeing. A new study suggests the reasons for this midlife dip: a double whammy of more demands on time and less support from co-workers. Dr Hannes Zacher's team surveyed nearly 800 mostly male workers in various roles in the Australian construction industry. Participants reported wellbeing in terms of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Consistent with previous research, wellbeing was correlated with age, with job satisfaction dropping in the late twenties and recovering in the early forties, and emotional exhaustion showing the reverse pattern. Why does this happen? Further analysis showed that participants’ reports of support from their co-workers underwent the same mid-life dip as job satisfaction, and the experience of time pressure at work displayed the same mid-life hump as emotional exhaustion. Support from co-workers probably dips in midlife as peers compete for scarce resources (promotion bottlenecks are often encountered during this career stage). Also, whereas younger counterparts are often hungry to forge new social networks, and older workers seek identity-affirming work experiences in their remaining tenure, midlifers find it demanding enough just to maintain existing social networks. Meanwhile, time pressure likely intensifies mid-career as colleagues try to leverage one's knowledge and experience.The i...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs