Friendly workplace linked to longer life

Getting along with your colleagues at work may do more than boost your productivity; it may also prevent you from facing an early demise.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel found people who felt they had the support of their colleagues and generally positive social interactions at work were less likely to die over a 20-year period than those who reported a less friendly work environment.

People who believed they had little or no emotional support in the workplace were almost 2.5 times as likely to die during the course of the study, compared to workers who developed stronger bonds with their colleagues.

To study how office politics influenced health, the researchers recruited 820 adults who visited a local health clinic in 1988 for routine check-ups, and then interviewed them about their jobs, asking detailed questions that delved into whether they found their supervisors and peers approachable and friendly.

The subjects worked in a variety of different fields, such as finance, health care, insurance and manufacturing, and ranged in age from 25 to 65 years. People who were suspected of having physical or mental health problems at the start of the study were excluded.

Over the next 20 years, the researchers were able to follow the participants and monitor their health through their medical records; giving researchers the chance to look for risk factors that could influence the results such as blood pressure, obesity, drinking habits, smoking, anxiety and depression.

By the time the study ended in 2008, 53 of the workers had died; most of those workers had cast their work support networks in a negative light; though researchers said it was difficult to tie the causes of those deaths to specific factors in such a study.

However, some of the study’s findings did surprise the researchers; such as the risk of death was only affected by a person’s relationship with his or her peers, and not with that person’s supervisors. Therefore, the researchers concluded the way people viewed their relationships with their bosses had no impact on mortality.

They also found a person’s perceived level of control at work also influenced the risk of premature death; but this had differing effects for men and women. Men who reported they were allowed freedom over their daily tasks and could take more initiative at work had a lower risk of dying during the study period, while women who reported more control had an opposite outcome with a 70% risk of death over the course of the study.

Sharon Toker, an author of the study and professor in organisational behaviour at Tel Aviv University, said this may have contributed to the changing gender roles in typical work environments when the study began two decades ago.

“Women having more control of their workplace and schedule usually hold higher positions,” Professor Toker said. “They were, and still are, expected to wear several hats — the ‘senior worker’ and the ‘mother’; thus, having more control in itself may have been a stressor,” she added.

Professor Toker claimed in an age where many people interact with colleagues through electronic communication, many companies could foster more “socially supportive” workplaces by encouraging face-to-face exchanges.

She said holding regular social outings for employees, as well as creating peer-assistance programs would allow workers to discuss issues or problems in confidence.

Do you work in a friendly environment? Share your opinions on this study in the comment box below.