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Cincinnati — Stigma attached to jobs that “society deems unfavorable” may leave workers feeling down about themselves, but channeling self-confidence can help curb negative emotions, University of Cincinnati researchers say.
The team came to its conclusion after examining the psychological effects of so-called “dirty work.”
The researchers surveyed 250 workers in the United States and United Kingdom who responded “yes” to the screening question, “Do you consider your work physically, socially or morally dirty?” That group included sewage and sanitation workers, police and corrections officers, and butchers.
The researchers found that although “dirty work” was linked to burnout, which triggered lower job and life satisfaction, the respondents who were less concerned about how society perceived their occupation experienced lower emotional exhaustion – a specific type of burnout.
“Although easier said than done, those that don’t have a tendency to care what people say or think about them are much more resilient in being able to ‘shake it off’ and maintain levels of satisfaction with their work regardless of whether others consider it ‘dirty,’” Scott Dust, study co-author and professor of management in the UC Carl H. Lindner College of Business, said in a press release.
Dust and his colleagues used the words “shake it off” in the study title in a nod to Taylor Swift’s song of that name “because the advice in her song applies directly to the results of the study.”
The researchers encourage employers to help mitigate the impact of stigma and “manage the emotional toll of ‘dirty work’” by:
- Providing job resources and organizational support.
- Implementing initiatives that emphasize the critical contributions made by workers in these roles.
Interventions such as these “will help their workers reduce the emotional exhaustion or help them interpret their role in a way that says, ‘I’m valuable. What I’m doing is worth it and contributing to society,’” Ben Fagan, study co-author and a UC doctoral candidate, said in the release.
The study was published in the Journal of Management & Organization.
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Original article published by Safety+Health an NSC publication