Home just as stressful as work - survey

1 July 2003 For Immediate Release

Home just as stressful as work - survey

Survey findings by stress expert and author of the Consumers’ Institute Less Stress Book, Dave Winsborough, reveal work can be less stressful than other parts of people’s lives.

Mr Winsborough says this and other stress-related findings have emerged from analyses of the first 200 New Zealand employee responses to an online stress and resilience assessment.

“Kiwi employees report that stress at home reduces work commitment and prompts people to change jobs in the same way stress at work does,” says Mr Winsborough.

“The highest rating non-work pressures concern finances and overall life direction - distinct from career direction.

“This is confirmed by participants in our stress and resilience programme who point out that stress from home causes distraction and reduced effectiveness at work,” he says.

“Stress crosses from home to work and vice versa with an impact on effectiveness in both spheres.

“At work, the complexity of jobs, workloads and role conflicts are identified as the leading causes of pressure.”

A more obvious but equally important survey result was that lower overall stress levels are associated with higher ratings of internalised feelings of control and ‘flow’.

“The control finding is well known from decades of psychological research and is to be expected,” Mr Winsborough says.

“Flow, however, is a psychological state akin to being ‘in the zone’, when the demands of the task are matched by one’s abilities and engagement with the task at hand.
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“The higher the flow, the greater the job satisfaction - a finding borne out by our assessments.”

Mr Winsborough says the assessment results provide a solid database against which individual and company-wide comparisons can be made.

“The database will become a valuable resource for employers interested in building resilient workforces. It will continue to grow over time as more people participate in our stress and resilience programme and complete the online assessment.”

Media are invited to take part in the online assessment. If you would like to do so, please contact Dave Winsborough on the numbers below.

ENDS

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