What Really Makes a Job Stressful?
By the staff of Heartland Human Services
Many of us when attempting to answer this question would place long hours on the top of the list. However, research by Christina Maslach at UC Berkeley refutes that as being central to work stress. In her book, "The Truth About Burnout", Maslach outlines six areas her research has found to be most directly linked to worker stress. What is important is that there is a good match between what a worker wants and what his/her job provides in each of the following areas: Workload, Control, Reward, Community, Fairness, and Values. Maslach believes someone working a 60 hour week who is paid well, treated fairly and able to set her own hours and feels part of a team with a solid mission may NOT fell stressed whereas someone working 30 hours a week without those strengths may feel VERY stressed.
Maslach goes on to say the opposite of burnout is engagement -- feeling energetic, involved and effective in your work. She believes no effort at relieving burnout will be effective unless it is geared toward improving the six areas outlined.
Lastly, Maslach asserts that there is one other important key match to consider in preventing burnout at work: the match between a worker's needs and those of his/her family. If you don't mind long hours at work, but your spouse has to do more work at home and is miserable, it won't be long before you are suffering, too. The issue is not shorter days are better, but that how you work is not seriously different from what your family expects and is comfortable with. For instance, if shorter days meant missing promotions, that might cause you MORE stress than working the longer days.