In this column, we provoke fresh thinking and round up some of the weird, wonderful, quirky, surprising – and shocking – stories out there
Business vs staff wellbeing
More than six in ten (62%) of managers say they put their company’s interests above staff wellbeing, with some saying they do so every day, according to a report from Business in the Community (BITC) with Mercer Marsh Benefits.
The report, Mental Health at Work 2019 – Time to Take Ownership, highlights that most employers do not acknowledge or deal with the adverse impact work has on employees’ mental health. Two in five (39%) UK workers experienced symptoms of poor mental health related to work in the past year, and just over half (52%) of those experiencing mental health problems related to work say this is due to pressure such as too many priorities or targets, or negative work relationships, says the report.
Almost one in four (24%) of those with work-related mental health problems explicitly cited bullying and harassment from their manager as a major cause. The report is based on YouGov survey data from more than 4,000 employees.
Mental and physical health needs to be considered equally important by employers, urges the report. It sets out recommendations to show businesses how to create positive, inclusive workplace cultures that help rather than harm the mental health of the people who work for them.
Louise Aston, wellbeing campaign director at BITC, said: “Our research shows that too many employers are tinkering at the edges of change rather than making the fundamental differences that are really needed to improve their employees’ mental health…A profound cultural shift is paramount so that work itself doesn’t cause poor mental health but instead should enhance it.”
- Read more here: http://bit.ly/2OUBSA3
What’s in a name?
We associate the sounds in names with certain traits, suggests research, ‘Does the name say it all?’ published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Researchers at the University of Calgary, in Canada, carried out studies to investigate whether people relate sounds to abstract concepts, like personalities. In particular, they set out to find whether we judge people’s personalities differently depending on whether their names contain sonorants – resonant or nasal sounds like m, l and n – or voiceless stops – short sounds that are formed by blocking air flow in the vocal tract, such as t, k and p.
In three studies, participants rated sonorant names like Lauren higher on agreeableness, and in two of the studies they also rated them higher in emotionality and conscientiousness. Voiceless stop names like Katie were rated higher in extraversion. The researchers saw the same effects even for made-up names.
To investigate whether people’s names truly do reflect their personalities, the researchers then invited more than 1,000 participants to complete online personality surveys. However, they found no real evidence for a link between participants’ personalities and the sounds in their own names.
The researchers suggest we may have learned to associate certain sounds with particular emotional contexts. People may tend to use softer, sonorant sounds in calmer situations, for example, meaning we perceive those with sonorant sounds in their names as more agreeable and conscientious.
Or perhaps the short abrupt sounds in names such as Jack and Katie bring to mind the quick, bouncy energy of a more extraverted personality.
- Read more here: http://bit.ly/2puUzj5
Go non-PC for authenticity
People using politically incorrect language can be perceived as more authentic, suggests research, ‘Tell it like it is’, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The research suggests that people being ‘un-PC’ can be seen as less warm but more authentic and less susceptible to external influence, defining political correctness as “using language or behavior to seem sensitive to others’ feelings, especially those others who seem socially disadvantaged”.
However, the researchers’ pilot study, involving a series of experiments, suggests the above-mentioned effects are moderated by perceivers’ political ideology and how sympathetic perceivers feel towards the target group being labelled politically correctly.
Calling undocumented immigrants ‘illegals’ made a communicator appear particularly authentic among conservative perceivers but particularly cold among liberal perceivers, for example.
- Read the paper here: http://bit.ly/2pwwGrt
- Contributions to this slot are welcome. Email: liz@coaching-at-work.com