Truth to age-old maxim 'work hard, play hard'
June 29, 2016
Science Daily/Queen's University
A biology professor has published a study that, for the first time, provides strong empirical support for a correlation between a motivation to seek accomplishment and an attraction to leisure.
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The maxim "work hard, play hard" -- which can be traced back to at least 1827 -- has long been used to express an implied connection between dedicated effort and having fun. Yet, until now, any statistical link between the two had never been quantified.
Credit: © meal_meaw / Fotolia
"I've been interested for quite a while in two motivations that people seem to display -- one I call legacy drive and one I call leisure drive," says Dr. Aarssen.
The maxim "work hard, play hard" -- which can be traced back to at least 1827 -- has long been used to express an implied connection between dedicated effort and having fun. Yet, despite its status as a trope in Western society, any statistical link between the two had never been quantified. Dr. Aarssen, along with undergraduate student Laura Crimi, conducted a survey of over 1,400 undergraduate students at Queen's. Participants were asked to identify their age, gender, religious affiliation and cultural background. They were then asked a series of questions to determine their attraction to religion, parenthood, accomplishment or fame, and recreation.
While some degree of correlation was seen between most of the factors listed, there was a particularly strong correlation between attraction to both legacy and leisure activities; those inclined to 'work hard' tend also to 'play hard.'
The results also suggest three distinct groupings of individuals based on their strongest motivational factors. Group one represented relatively apathetic types -- those who displayed relatively weak attraction to parenthood, religion, work and leisure. Group two distinguished themselves through high attraction to both religion and parenthood with moderate attraction to accomplishment and leisure. Group three, the highly motivated "go-getters," were highly attracted to parenthood as well as to accomplishment and leisure.
Dr. Aarssen suggests that the "work hard, play hard" motivation could serve an evolutionary purpose in humans, by presenting a means to divert our attention from our own mortality.
"We, unlike any other animals, are aware and concerned about our own self-impermanence," Dr. Aarssen says. "Legacy drive and leisure drive have potential to explain our ability to buffer this anxiety. Between these two drives, our ancestors were able to distract from their own self-impermanence, allowing them to cope with the anxiety and thus minimize its potential negative impact on reproductive success."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160629105940.htm
Workplace climate, not women's 'nature,' responsible for gender-based job stress
July 12, 2016
Science Daily/Indiana University
A study by a sociologist subjected both men and women to the negative social conditions that many women report experiencing in male-dominated occupations. The result: men showed the same physiological stress response to the conditions as did women.
But why? Is it something about women or something about the workplace? A study by an Indiana University sociologist suggests it's the latter.
Cate Taylor, assistant professor of sociology and gender studies at IU Bloomington, designed and carried out an experiment that subjected both men and women to the negative social conditions that many women report experiencing in male-dominated occupations. The result: Men showed the same physiological stress response to the conditions as did women.
"Women are not especially sensitive to negative workplace social conditions," Taylor said. "Rather, both women and men exhibit similar responses to the same types of stressful workplace conditions."
The article, "'Relational by Nature?' Men and Women Do Not Differ in Physiological Response to Social Stressors Faced by Token Women," appears in the July 2016 issue of the American Journal of Sociology and is now available online.
The study focuses on what Taylor calls "gendered social exclusion," behavior that would tend to make "token" women or men feel excluded from a group of mostly opposite-sex coworkers. For example, men might exclude female co-workers by talking constantly about sports or other stereotypically male interests.
It addresses the question of whether, as some observers have suggested, women are simply more sensitive to such exclusion: if they are "relational by nature" and respond more strongly than men to being shut out of social interaction in the workplace.
Taylor recruited undergraduate research assistants, called "confederates," and trained them extensively to manage peer-to-peer conversations in a laboratory setting. Study participants were also undergraduates recruited on a university campus.
To determine the effect of gendered social exclusion, Taylor placed female study participants in experimental groups with three male confederates and male study participants in groups with three female confederates. The confederates were trained to make the study participants feel excluded by talking about stereotypically masculine topics (sports, video games and a class in business statistics) or stereotypically feminine topics (shopping, yoga and Pilates, and a class in child development) and by subtly excluding the participants from the conversations. She compared the stress response of these participants with the stress response of participants in groups made up of members of the same sex that did not use conversation to make the participants feel excluded.
In order to measure stress response, at several points during the experiment, Taylor measured levels of the hormone cortisol in the participants' saliva -- a known indicator of physiological stress response. Cortisol levels rose markedly in participants subjected to gendered exclusion but not in the other participants.
"The cortisol response was robust, and it was statistically significant," Taylor said. And it was just as strong in men who were subjected to gendered exclusion as in women who were subjected to gendered social exclusion.
The results suggest that conditions associated with male-dominated professions are what cause token women to report experiencing high levels of stress in the workplace, Taylor said. The answer isn't to "fix" the women by teaching them to be less sensitive, because when women and men are exposed to the exact same social conditions, they actually have the same stress response. A better answer might be to address the workplace social exclusion faced by minorities in their occupations.
And the findings matter, Taylor said. For one thing, exposure to chronic physiological stress response, indicated by cortisol response, has been found to be associated with negative health effects, including heart disease, digestive problems, weight gain and depression.
For another, both stress and exclusion from important workplace social networks and mentorship may be significant factors in preventing women from getting or keeping jobs in male-dominated occupations. Male-dominated occupations, on average, have higher pay and prestige and better working conditions than mixed-sex or female-dominated occupations. Taylor said the under-representation of women in male-dominated occupations is a significant factor behind the gender wage gap. On average, women earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men.
"If the workplace climate were less unfriendly, we might see more women in these male-dominated occupations, and we might see more parity in pay," she said. "That would be good for women and good for families."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712110727.htm
More than four in 10 working adults think their work impacts their health
Most say their workplace is supportive of actions to improve their health
July 12, 2016
Science Daily/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
A new poll finds that more than four in 10 working adults (44 percent) say their current job has an impact on their overall health, and one in four (28 percent) say that impact is positive.
However, in the survey of more than 1,600 workers in the U.S., one in six workers (16%) report that their current job has a negative impact on their health. Workers most likely to say their job has a negative impact on their overall health include those with disabilities (35%), those in dangerous jobs (27%), those in low-paying jobs (26%), those working 50+ hours per week (25%), and those working in the retail sector (26%).
A number of working adults also report that their job has a negative impact on their levels of stress (43%), eating habits (28%), sleeping habits (27%), and weight (22%). "The takeaway here is that job number one for U.S. employers is to reduce stress in the workplace," said Robert J. Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who directed the survey.
View the complete poll findings: https://cdn1.sph.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/2016/07/NPR-RWJF-Harvard-Workplace-and-Health-Poll-Report.pdf
Key Findings
Do you think your current job is good or bad for your [INSERT ITEM], or does it not have an impact one way or another?
Responses: Stress Level: bad impact, 43%, no impact, 39%, good impact, 16%;
Eating Habits: bad impact, 28%, no impact, 56%, good impact, 15%;
Sleeping Habits: bad impact, 27%, no impact, 55%, good impact, 17%;
Weight: bad impact, 22%, no impact, 57%, good impact, 19%
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% because Don't Know/Refused responses are not shown.
Chemicals and contaminants top list of biggest health concerns in the workplace
About one in five working adults (22%) say that something at their job may be harmful to their health, including 43% of construction or outdoor workers and 34% of workers in medical jobs.
Among workers with any health concerns about their workplace, the most frequently cited health concerns mentioned are chemicals and other contaminants (30%), unhealthy air (13%), accidents or injuries (12%), and stress (11%).
About one in four workers rate their workplace as fair or poor in providing a healthy work environment; about half are offered wellness or health improvement programs
About one in four workers (24%) rate their workplace as only fair or poor in providing a healthy work environment; however, 34% give their workplace a rating of excellent. About half (51%) say their workplace offers any formal wellness or health improvement programs to help keep themselves healthy.
"Every year, U.S. businesses lose more than $225 billion because of sick and absent workers," said Robert Wood Johnson President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. "But I believe that business drives culture change and with them on board we can succeed in building a Culture of Health in America. It's not a hard connection to make. In many companies as much as 50 percent of profits are eaten up by health care costs."
Nearly half of all workers (45%) rate their workplace as only fair or poor in providing healthy food options. Over half of workers in factory or manufacturing jobs (55%), medical jobs (52%), retail outlets (52%), and construction or outdoor jobs (51%) give their workplace a fair or poor rating at providing healthy food options.
A majority of 'workaholics' say they work longer hours because it is important to their career; half say they enjoy working longer hours.
About one in five working adults (19%) say they work 50 or more hours per week in their main job; these workers are called 'workaholics' in this study. When given a list of possible reasons why they work 50+ hours per week, a majority of these workers (56%) say they do so because it's important for their career to work longer hours, 50% say they enjoy doing so, and just 37% say they do it because they need the money.
A majority of working adults say they still go to work when they are sick
A majority (55%) of working adults say they still go to work always or most of the time when they have a cold or the flu, including more than half (60%) of those who work in medical jobs and half (50%) of restaurant workers.
Types of workers who are most likely to still go to work always or most of the time when they are sick include those working 50+ hours per week in their main job (70%), those working two or more jobs (68%), workers in low-paying jobs (65%), and younger workers ages 18-29 (60%).
Low-wage workers often face worse conditions than high-wage workers
Working adults in self-reported low-paying jobs often report worse working conditions than those in high-paying jobs. For instance, more than four in ten workers in low-paying jobs report facing potentially dangerous situations at work (45% vs. 33% in high-paying jobs), and almost two-thirds (65% vs. 48% in high-paying jobs) say they still go to work always or most of the time when they are sick.
One in four workers in low-paying jobs (26%) say their job has a negative impact on their overall health, compared to just 14% of those in high-paying jobs. "In an era of concern about low-wage workers, it's clear they face more negative health impacts from their jobs compared to those who are paid substantially more," said Blendon.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160712110732.htm
Music at work increases cooperation, teamwork
August 23, 2016
Science Daily/Cornell University
Music can have important effects on the cooperative spirits of those exposed to music, researchers report. A new article describes two studies they conducted to test the effect of different types of music on the cooperative behavior of individuals working as a team.
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Cornell University researchers found that music can have important effects on the cooperative spirits of those exposed to music.
Credit: Cornell University
From casual acoustic melodies at the coffee shop to throbbing electronic beats at teen clothing outlets, music is used to mold customer experience and behavior. But what impact does it have on employees?
Cornell University researchers explored this question in a pair of lab experiments and found that music can have important effects on the cooperative spirits of those exposed to music.
In the paper newly published by the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Cornell researchers Kevin Kniffin, Jubo Yan, Brian Wansink and William Schulze describe two studies they conducted to test the effect of different types of music on the cooperative behavior of individuals working as a team.
For each study, participants were grouped into teams of three. Each team member was given multiple opportunities to either contribute to the team's value using tokens or keep the tokens for personal use.
When happy, upbeat music was played -- researchers chose the "Happy Days" theme song, "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles and "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves -- team members were more likely to contribute to the group's value. When music deemed unpleasant was played -- in this case, heavy metal songs by less than well-known bands -- participants were more likely to keep tokens for themselves. The researchers found contribution levels to the public good when happy, upbeat songs were played were approximately one-third higher compared to the less pleasant music.
When researchers conducted a second experiment testing how people react when no music is played, the results were the same. The researchers conclude that happy music provokes people to more often make decisions that contribute to the good of the team.
"Music is a pervasive part of much of our daily lives, whether we consciously notice it or not," said Kniffin, a behavioral scientist at Cornell and lead author on the paper. "Music might melt into the background in places like supermarkets or gyms and other times it's very prominent like places of worship or presidential nominating conventions. Our results show that people seem more likely to get into sync with each other if they're listening to music that has a steady beat to it."
Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, added: "What's great about these findings, other than having a scientific reason to blast tunes at work, is that happy music has the power to make the workplace more cooperative and supportive overall."
The researchers suggest managers consider not only the customer experience but also workers' when picking the day's music. Starting the day with this simple consideration in mind could result in happier employees and more teamwork.
"Lots of employers spend significant sums of time and money on off-site teambuilding exercises to build cooperation among employees. Our research points to the office sound system as a channel that has been underappreciated as a way to inspire cooperation among co-workers," said Kniffin.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160823125215.htm
Women do ask for pay rises but don’t get them
September 5, 2016
Science Daily/University of Warwick
New research shows that women ask for wage rises just as often as men, but men are 25 per cent more likely to get a raise when they ask.
Using a randomly chosen sample of 4,600 workers across more than 800 employers, the research is the first to do a statistical test of the idea that women get paid less because they are not as pushy as men. The researchers found no support for the theory.
The authors of the study "Do Women Ask?" also examined the claim that female employees hold back for fear of upsetting their boss, and again found no evidence for this theory either.
Co-author Andrew Oswald, Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at the University of Warwick said: "We didn't know how the numbers would come out. Having seen these findings, I think we have to accept that there is some element of pure discrimination against women."
Various ideas have previously been suggested as to why women might be reluctant to ask for an increase in their pay packet. These include: women don't want to deviate from a perceived female stereotype, and they may fear being less popular at work.
Co-author Dr Amanda Goodall at Cass Business School said: "Ours is the first proper test of the reticent-female theory, and the evidence doesn't stand up."
When like-for-like men and women were compared, the men were a quarter more likely to be successful, obtaining a pay increase 20 per cent of the time. Only 16 per cent of females were successful when they asked.
The research uses data gathered in the Australian Workplace Relations Survey (AWRS) which covers the period 2013-14 which is a representative sample of Australian employees and workplaces. Professor Oswald said: "We realised that Australia was the natural test bed, because it is the only country in the world to collect systematic information on whether employees have asked for a rise."
The survey has the distinctive feature that it asks individuals a set of questions about whether their pay is set by negotiation with the company, whether they have successfully obtained a wage rise since joining the employer, whether they preferred not to attempt to negotiate a pay rise because they were concerned about their relationships, why they decided that, and about their levels of job satisfaction.
Using statistical methods, the authors' analysis shows that it is crucial to adjust for the number of hours worked (because part-time workers feel hesitant to 'ask'). The analysis also took into account the nature of the employer, the industry, and the characteristics and qualifications of workers.
Despite the dispiriting findings, the authors pinpointed one encouraging sign in the data -- young Australian female employees get pay hikes just as often as young Australian men.
Dr Goodall said: "This study potentially has an upside. Young women today are negotiating their pay and conditions more successfully than older females, and perhaps that will continue as they become more senior."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160905130017.htm
Employees of medical centers report high stress, negative health behaviors
September 8, 2016
Science Daily/Mayo Clinic
Approximately 15 to 20 percent of adults in the U.S. will report high levels of stress, several American surveys have found. A new study has identified stress and burnout as a major problem employees face within the medical industry, leading to negative health behaviors. With rising stress levels in the workplace for employees, many companies are looking to integrate, engage and enroll employees into wellness programs.
"It's important to teach individuals to monitor their stress levels over time and practice effective, ongoing stress-reduction strategies, such as getting involved in wellness programs, this will in-turn help health care employees live a happy and health life," says Matthew Clark, Ph.D., lead author of the study and resiliency expert at the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program.
The study, which is published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, measured stress and health behaviors (exercise, nutrition, sleep, etc.) by a series of five annual surveys administered to 676 participants who are employees at Mayo Clinic and have access to a wellness center. A significant relationship was found between the stress levels of an employee and four domains of quality of life: poor physical health, low mental health, poor nutritional habits and lower perceived overall health. Unfortunately, according to the study, employees who reported high stress levels and perceived poor quality of life also reported the lowest usage of wellness programs.
According to Dr. Clark, "Increasing the awareness of wellness centers and programs in academic medical environments will increase the quality of life of employees and lead to less physician and staff burnout."
Many companies are taking note of burnout and job strain in their staff and have created wellness centers, offer stress reduction programs, provide wellness coaching and healthy sleep programs for their employees in an effort to reduce stress, job strain and burnout. Muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness and flexibility exercises are also beneficial to overall quality of life, Dr. Clark writes.
He adds, "We are beginning to encourage employees to monitor their stress levels and to engage in daily resiliency practices, such as exercise, time with family and friends, meditation or gratitude journaling, to help reduce their stress levels and improve their quality of life."
Given the significance of stress in the workplace, the researchers note that exploring ways to effectively engage employees who have high levels of stress into wellness programs warrants further investigation.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160908165052.htm
Group work can harm memory
September 13, 2016
Science Daily/University of Liverpool
Collaborating in a group to remember information is harmful, new research suggests. The research statistically analysed 64 earlier collaborative remembering studies and found that groups recall less than their individual members would if working alone.
A new study by psychologists from the University of Liverpool and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) reveals that collaborating in a group to remember information is harmful.
The research, conducted by Dr Craig Thorley, the University's Department of Psychological Sciences, and Dr Stéphanie Marion, from UOIT's Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, statistically analysed 64 earlier collaborative remembering studies and found that groups recall less than their individual members would if working alone.
The same study also found that collaborative remembering boosts later individual learning: people who previously recall in a group remember more than those who do not.
The research provides the first systematic investigation into the costs and benefits of collaborative remembering.
Collaborative inhibition
Collaborative remembering is important as it is used in a number of different everyday settings. In the workplace, interview panels jointly recall candidates' answers before deciding who to employ. In the courtroom, jurors work together to recall trial evidence prior to reaching a verdict. In schools and universities, students work together to revise course content prior to exams.
The study, published in Psychological Bulletin this week, first compared the recall of collaborative groups to the pooled recall of an equivalent number of individuals. For example, if a collaborative group consisted of four people, their recall was compared to that of four individuals who worked alone but whose recall was combined. Collaborative group recall was consistently lower than pooled individual recall. This effect is known as collaborative inhibition.
The study suggests collaborative inhibition occurs as group members disrupt each other's retrieval strategies when recalling together.
Retrieval strategies
Dr Craig Thorley, said: "Collaborative group members develop their own preferred retrieval strategies for recalling information. For example, Person A may prefer to recall information in the order it was learned but Person B may prefer to recall it in the reverse order. Importantly, recall is greatest when people can use their own preferred retrieval strategies.
"During collaboration, members hear each other recall information using competing retrieval strategies and their preferred strategies become disrupted. This results in each group member underperforming and the group as a whole suffers. Individuals who work alone can use their preferred retrieval strategies without this disruption so recall more."
Several factors were also found to influence the extent to which collaborative inhibition occurs. One of these findings was collaboration is more harmful to larger groups than smaller groups. Another was that friends and family members are more effective at working together than strangers.
Dr Thorley adds: "Smaller groups perform better than larger groups as they contain fewer competing (disruptive) retrieval strategies. Friends and family members perform better than strangers as they tend to develop complementary (and not competing) retrieval strategies."
Collaboration Boosts Later Memory
The study also compared the recall of people who had previously collaborated in a group to the recall of people who had previously worked alone. It was found that collaborating in a group boosted later individual recall.
Dr Stéphanie Marion, states: "We believe that this occurs as working in a group means people are re-exposed to things they may have forgotten and this boosts their memory later on. One of the important consequences of this is that it suggests getting people to work together to remember something (e.g., students revising together) is beneficial for individual learning."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160913100613.htm
How workplace stress contributes to cardiovascular disease
September 15, 2016
Science Daily/University of California, Irvine
A model has been created that illustrates how economic globalization may create stressful employment factors in high-income countries contributing to the worldwide epidemic of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Peter Schnall and Marnie Dobson with UCI and Dr. Paul Landsbergis with SUNY Downstate published their findings online in the current edition of the International Journal of Health Services in the article titled "Globalization, Work and Cardiovascular Disease."
Cardiovascular disease, a global epidemic, is responsible for about 30 percent of all deaths worldwide. While mortality rates from CVD have been mostly declining in the advanced industrialized nations, some risk factors -- including hypertension, obesity and diabetes -- have been on the increase everywhere. Researchers investigating the social causes of CVD have produced a robust body of evidence documenting the effect of the work environment, including through the mechanisms of psychosocial job stressors. These stressors can produce chronic biologic responses like hypertension and promote unhealthy behaviors, which increase CVD risk.
The researchers also offer a theoretical model that illustrates how economic globalization influences the labor market and work organization in high-income countries, which in turn exacerbates job characteristics, such as unreasonable demands, low job control, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity and long hours.
"Given the high costs of medical treatment and the economic impact on employers and society of ill health, lost productivity, and sickness absence, it is in the interest of all to seriously consider improving work organization," said Landsbergis, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences in the School of Public Health at SUNY Downstate.
The authors make the following recommendations:
• Implement national surveillance of occupations, industries and workplaces to identify elevated levels of hazardous work characteristics;
• Pass regulations and laws limiting psychosocial stressors on the job;
• Establish upper limits of weekly and yearly work hours (to reduce CVD risk);
• Mandate vacation time for all employees to facilitate recovery;
• Pass regulations to mandate a "living wage" that provides sufficient support so that workers are not forced to work excessively long hours;
• And pass legislation that increases the economic security of precarious workers.
"We conclude from more than 30 years of epidemiological research that CVD is a disease of modern industrial society and not the natural result of aging," said Schnall, who is with UCI's Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and a clinical professor of medicine and public health. "It is related to forms of production that emerged with industrialization and that have expanded with economic globalization: long work hours, repetitive work, high demands, lack of control, long hours, and job insecurity."
"Global economic policies and the rise of the new flexible labor market have caused an increase in precarious employment in advanced industrialized countries," added Dobson, an assistant adjunct professor in Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. "These work stressors in turn contribute to CVD risk factors such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160915163807.htm
High status job means you are less likely to respond to treatment for depression
September 20, 2016
Science Daily/European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)
A high status job means that you are less likely to respond to standard treatment with medications for depression, an international study has found. These results may have implications for clinicians and their patients, employers and public policy.
Up to a third of patients who receive drug treat for depression do not respond to treatment. Knowing which groups don't respond could help clinicians understand which treatments are appropriate to which person. In the case of workers, it may also enable employers to take steps to ease stressful conditions. Although there is a wealth of research showing that low social and economic status is associated with a greater risk of depression, there has been little work focusing on how occupational levels respond to treatment.
A group of international researchers from Belgium, Italy, Israel and Austria enlisted 654 working adults attending clinics for depression, and classified their work according to occupational level. 336 (51.4%) held high occupational level jobs, 161 (24.6%) middle-level, and 157 (24%) low level. Around two-thirds of the patients were female (65.6%), which reflects the normal gender difference in reported depression. Most patients were treated with SRIs (Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), although other pharmaceutical agents were also used, as well as psychotherapy. Those in the higher levels were found to have received fewer SRIs and more psychotherapy.
On analysing results after treatment, they found that 55.9% in the highest occupational group were resistant to treatment. In contrast, only 40.2% of the middle-level workers remained treatment resistant, and 44.3 of the low-level workers. This difference was also reflected in the degree of remission, with only around one in 6 in remission in the higher status group, as against around one in 4 for the other groups.
Commenting, Professor Siegfried Kasper (Vienna, Austria) said "Though these findings should be considered preliminarily, they indicate that high occupational levels may be a risk factor for poor response to treatment. A number of variables may explain these findings. For example, there may be specific working environment demands and stressors; people may find it difficult to accept or cope with illness, or to continue with medication; or there may be other factors, related for example to cognitive, personality and behavioural differences."
Co-worker Professor Joseph Zohar (ECNP Past-President, Tel-Hashomer, Israel) said; "This shows that the need for precise prescribing is not only related to the symptoms and genetics but also to occupational level; one might need to prescribe different medication for the same disorder and need to take into account the occupational level in order to reach optimum effect."
Professor Eduard Vieta (ECNP Executive Committee member and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona), commented:
"The results of this study might sound counterintuitive, but people with highly demanding jobs are subject to a lot of stress, and when they breakdown with depression it may be particularly difficult to cope with their previous life. An alternative explanation, which cannot be ruled out given the naturalistic design of the study, is that high-status job patients may be more prone to request psychosocial treatments without the support of pharmacotherapy. The ideal treatment of depression is, in general, the combination of both pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160920083017.htm
On the job: Is it better to fit in or stand out?
November 14, 2016
Science Daily/University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business
Is it better to fit in or stand out at work? A new study suggests that the answer depends on your position in your network structure and your degree of cultural alignment.
If you're the kind of person who stands out culturally -- you don't follow the same norms as the others in the office -- in order to succeed you will need to fit into your organization structurally, by being part of a tight-knit group of colleagues. And if you stand out structurally -- you aren't a member of any one clique at work but serve as a bridge across groups that are otherwise disconnected from each other -- then you better fit in culturally.
In the paper, "Fitting in or Standing Out? The Tradeoffs of Structural and Cultural Embeddedness," published in the American Sociological Review, co-authors Sameer Srivastava of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and Amir Goldberg of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business explore the relationship between fitting in, standing out, and success within an organization. The paper is written in collaboration with Christopher Potts, professor of linguistics at Stanford, and Stanford graduate researchers Govind Manian and Will Monroe.
"Most people recognize that, if they fail to differentiate themselves from their peers, they are very unlikely to get ahead," says Srivastava. "Yet fitting into a company creates a larger, motivating sense of identity for employees and enables them to collaborate with others in the organization."
The result is a conflicting pressure on workers to fit into an organization and, at the same time, stand out. Srivastava and his colleagues wanted to learn more about that tension and find ways to resolve it.
Examining the language used in corporate emails provided useful, raw data. The researchers studied a mid-sized technology company's complete archive of email messages exchanged among 601 full-time employees between 2009 and 2014. For privacy and confidentiality, only emails exchanged among employees were analyzed and identifying information and actual message content were stripped from the data. The team created an algorithm that could analyze the natural language in emails, focusing on the extent to which people expressed themselves using a linguistic style that matched the style used by their colleagues.
"Some of the most informative language categories were ones whose use is governed by cultural norms -- for example, using emotional language when communicating with colleagues. People who fit in culturally learned to understand and match the linguistic norms followed by their colleagues," says Srivastava.
To learn how this relates to an employee's success, the researchers studied employee age, gender, and tenure, and identified all employees who had left the company and whether their departure was voluntary or involuntary. That data enabled them to correlate professional success with fitting in and standing out. The researchers theorized that employees in the firm can be characterized by their levels of cultural assimilation, as well as their attachment to various network cliques. This led them to identify four organizational archetypes: "doubly embedded actors," "disembedded actors," "assimilated brokers" and "integrated nonconformists."
What the researchers call a "doubly embedded" employee -- is someone who is both culturally compliant and part of a dense network. Such a person is unlikely to get exposed to novel information and will struggle to break through the clutter in proposing ideas of his own. The researchers found that such workers were over three times more likely to be involuntarily terminated (i.e. fired) than those identified as integrated nonconformists, people who are part of a tight-knit group but still stand out culturally.
Those most likely to get ahead are called "assimilated brokers," meaning people who are high on cultural fit and low on network cliqueness. Their mirror images, the integrated nonconformists, also gained more job success.
"The assimilated broker has connections across parts of the organization that are otherwise disconnected. At the same time, she knows how to blend in seamlessly with each of these groups even if they are quite different culturally," says Srivastava. Clearly, both fitting in and standing out are important for career success, but the lesson, says Srivastava, is that if you blend in both structurally and culturally, you risk being seen as bland and unremarkable. At the same time, if you try to serve as a bridge across groups but lack the capacity for cultural conformity, you can wind up being perceived with suspicion and mistrust.
The goal is to find a balance between the two.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161114082432.htm
'Nice' women earn less than their more assertive counterparts
New confirms that nice women finish last
November 21, 2016
Science Daily/American Friends of Tel Aviv University
A new study finds that the nicer, or more agreeable, a woman is at work, the lower her salary is likely to be. The new research examines status inconsistencies between men and women through the lens of traditional male and female characteristics.
Dominant, assertive women, who clearly express their expectations and do not retreat from their demands, are compensated better than their more accommodating female peers. According to the researchers, the same goes for dominant men versus their more conciliatory male counterparts -- but even dominant women earn far less than all of their male colleagues, dominant or otherwise.
The study was conducted by Prof. Sharon Toker of the Tel Aviv University Coller School of Business Management, Dr. Michal Biron of the Department of Business Administration at the University of Haifa, and Dr. Renee De Reuver of the Department of Human Resource studies at Tilburg University in The Netherlands.
Sugar and spice and everything nice?
"We have witnessed dramatic changes in the definition of traditionally male and female qualities over the past several decades. But some people still really cling to the idea that some qualities are exclusively male and exclusively female," Prof. Toker said. "Some professional women are still afraid to exhibit a trait that's incongruent with presumed notions of female character. The result is financial retribution."
"We found that women aren't aware that more agreeable women are being punished for being nice," said Dr. Biron. "The nice women we polled in our study even believed they were earning more than they deserved."
For the purpose of their study, the researchers surveyed 375 men and women at a Dutch multinational electronics company with 1,390 employees. The subjects were selected at random from all 12 of the company departments.
The researchers used both objective and subjective criteria for the study. For objective data, they analyzed tenure, education, and performance data relative to income and promotion statistics. For subjective data, they examined how the individual perceived the fit between their education, experience, and performance on the one hand, and their income and rank on the other.
More effort for less return
"We found that women were consistently and objectively status-detracted, which means they invest more of themselves in their jobs than they receive; and are compensated less than their male colleagues across the board," Dr. Biron said.
"But dominant women were not punished for reflecting such female-incongruent traits as extroversion and assertiveness," Dr. De Reuver said. "In fact, we found that the more dominant a woman is at work, the less likely she is to be status-detracted. We found a similar pattern among men -- the more dominant a man is, the more likely he is to be better compensated. But alarmingly, dominant women were still found to earn less than even the most agreeable men who aren't promoted."
In the subjective part of the study, nearly all the employees responded that they felt dissatisfied with their input-compensation ratio, but agreeable and non-dominant women answered that they felt they earned too much.
"This blew our minds," said Prof. Toker. "The data shows that they earn the least -- far less than what they deserve. And they rationalize the situation, making it less likely that they will make appropriate demands for equal pay."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161121165245.htm
Workplace fun is fundamental for learning on the job
December 13, 2016
Science Daily/Penn State
All work and no play may dull on-the-job learning at workplaces, according to a team of researchers.
In a study, having fun at work was significantly related to informal learning, which includes most unstructured, non-classroom forms of learning, said Michael Tews, associate professor of hospitality management. Informal learning is a common way employees pick up lessons that can improve their job performances.
"Most learning at the workplace occurs independently at the desk, or with a few other people, not necessarily in a classroom," said Tews.
He added that it may not be the fun activities themselves that instill the new lessons, but how fun creates a better learning environment. People in fun work environments are more inclined to try new things and not fear possible mistakes, for example.
"You might not think there is this connection between informal learning and fun in the workplace," said Tews. "It's easier to make the connection between fun and retention, or fun and performance to the extent that it leads to creativity, but fun and learning doesn't seem connected at the face of it. The gist of this argument, though, is that when you have a workplace that is more fun, it creates a safe environment for learning to occur."
The study looked at fun activities supported by management to enhance wellbeing -- team-building activities or celebrations to recognize achievements, for example -- and the manager's overall support for fun on the job.
A manager's support for fun actually mattered more than his or her support for learning, according to the researchers, who reported their findings in the Journal of Vocational Behavior, currently online.
"There's a lot of talk in the literature about a manager's support for learning, or creating a climate for learning, and how that makes a culture for learning where workers learn from one another," said Tews. "What we're showing is that this fun on the job actually matters as much as -- or even more -- than that support for learning."
Fun can also bring coworkers together, which, in turn aids learning between workers.
"It creates this group cohesion," said Tews. "So, when there's fun, then the co-workers may be able to get to know each other, have better connections, and be more apt to help each other."
While fun is often looked at as a distraction by managers, it may improve a worker's resiliency and optimism, leading to better attention with tasks, according to Tews, who worked with John W. Michel, associate professor of business and management, Loyola University, and Raymond A. Noe, professor of management and human resources, Ohio State University.
However, fun is not a cure-all for workplace productivity and learning, Tews cautioned. In earlier research, he found that fun had a favorable effect on promoting employee retention, but could cause productivity to suffer. Managers, then, should be selective in how they use fun to encourage learning and productivity.
"With most management tactics, there are always going to be pros and cons," said Tews. "There's never going to be a perfect workplace, there's never going to be a perfect management intervention, so you have to choose your battles."
The researchers recruited 206 managers from a chain of 80 casual dining restaurants. The restaurants are decentralized with limited opportunities for classroom learning and rely on informal learning opportunities to improve knowledge and skills.
Participants were asked to rate fun activities, their own bosses' support for fun, their attitude and informal learning at their restaurants.
Tews said future research is needed to validate the study's findings with other groups of employees. However, the current findings are promising to support the notion that fun has instrumental value in the workplace, he added.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161213113152.htm
Bad bosses come in two forms: Dark or dysfunctional
December 15, 2016
Science Daily/Binghamton University, State University of New York
Bad bosses generally come in two forms. There are the dysfunctional ones, like Michael Scott from the TV series The Office; then there are the dark ones, like Gordon Gekko from the film Wall Street. Researchers are building a framework to better understand the behaviors of bad bosses and to reduce workplace stress.
In a new chapter from Research in Occupational Stress and Well-Being titled, "Stress, Well-Being, And the Dark Side of Leadership," Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Seth M. Spain looks to establish a taxonomy for identifying bad bosses and their distinct behaviors. He said that there are two definitions of a bad boss: dark or dysfunctional, and both can cause a great deal of stress to employees.
"They don't want to hurt you," said Spain of dysfunctional bosses. "Through lack of skill, or other personality defects, they're just not very good at their job. Largely, that's what we would call 'dysfunctional.'"
Dark bosses, on the other hand, have destructive behaviors, and hurt others to elevate themselves, said Spain. These bosses are looked at through the three characteristics called the "Dark Triad," which includes Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy.
"[These are] people who enjoy the pain and suffering of others -- they're going to be mean, abusive and harassing in daily life," said Spain.
That's not to say that there aren't degrees in which these characteristics are displayed. Everybody exhibits these behaviors at some level, said Spain.
According to Spain, bad bosses, whether they're dysfunctional or dark, can cause a great deal of stress to employees.
"A person's direct supervisor is a lens through which they view their work experience. We think, in particular, that a boss can be an incredibly substantial source of stress for people who work for them," said Spain.
Having this framework of behaviors that bad bosses exhibit can be the first step into fixing them, ultimately reducing stress in the workplace, said Spain.
"We believe that these characteristics are extremely important for understanding employee development and career advancement," said Spain. "Understanding the role that these characteristics play in stress experiences at work is extremely important, especially since bad leaders can cause so much suffering for their subordinates."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161215124910.htm
Researchers uncover why morning people should not work at night
December 16, 2016
Science Daily/National Research University Higher School of Economics
It has been known for a long time that early risers work less efficiently at night than night owls do. But researchers have uncovered new and distinctive features between the night activities of these two types of individuals. At night, early risers demonstrate a quicker reaction time when solving unusual attention-related tasks than night owls, but these early risers make more mistakes along the way.
https://images.sciencedaily.com/2016/12/161216115532_1_540x360.jpg
At night, early risers demonstrate a quicker reaction time when solving unusual attention-related tasks than night owls, but these early risers make more mistakes along the way.
Credit: © nirutft / Fotolia
Sleep deprivation and a relative increase in the time spent awake negatively impact the brain's attention system. Nicola Barclay and Andriy Myachykov conducted a study that is the first experiment investigating the influence of sleep deprivation on people with different chronotypes. Specifically, the researchers found out how an increase in time spent awake affects the attention system of early risers and night owls. The study is available in the journal Experimental Brain Research.
Twenty-six volunteers (13 male, 13 female) with an average age of 25 participated in the study. Participants were required to stay awake for 18 hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., and adhere to their normal routine. At the beginning and end of their time spent awake, the participants completed an Attention Network Test (ANT) and a Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire to help assess their chronotype.
The researchers did not find any important differences between the results of the ANT test the early birds and night owls completed in the morning, but the evening test showed a more pronounced contrast. The early birds completed tests quicker than the night owls, which was a rather unexpected and contradictory outcome, though the researchers did find an explanation for this. This may have been because of the different approaches the two groups took towards managing the task. Evening people tended to take a more serious approach when it came to tasks requiring more time and attention during their favorite hours, i.e., in the late evening or at night. 'To deal with the most difficult test -- resolving a conflict of attention -- it was necessary not only to concentrate on the main visual stimulus, but at the same time to ignore accompanying stimulus that distract from the core task,' Andriy Myachykov explains. Completion of this task requires increased concentration. 'An interesting fact is that although night owls spent more time finishing than early birds, their accuracy in completing the task was higher,' the researcher added.
Overall, the evening people turned out to be slower but more efficient compared to the early risers, according to the second ANT taken at 2:00 a.m. after 18 hours of being awake. 'On the one hand, it's known that night owls are more efficient in the late hours, but how this influences the speed and accuracy with which attention-related tasks are completed remains unclear. Our study demonstrated how night owls working late at night "sacrifice" speed for accuracy,' explained Andriy Myachykov.
The results of this study could challenge the education system and human resources management in certain areas. For pilots, air traffic controllers, drivers, etc., attention, the ability to deal with large sets of data, and reaction time are all very important. During emergencies, these features could play a vital role. The results of this study could also be very useful for people who work night shift.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161216115532.htm
Employers need to do more to encourage staff to switch off at home
January 5, 2017
Science Daily/British Psychological Society (BPS)
Less than half of UK businesses and organizations provide employees with guidance on how to switch off from work when they go home.
This is one of the findings from a survey conducted by Dr. Almuth McDowall (Birkbeck, University of London) and Professor Gail Kinman (University of Bedfordshire) who will present their results today, Friday 6 January 2017, at the British Psychological Society's Division of Occupational Psychology annual conference being held in Liverpool.
Dr Gail Kinman said: "From January 1st, French workers have the right to disconnect from email to avoid the intrusion of work into their private lives and protect them against burnout. We wanted to know what are UK organisations doing to protect employees against the risks of being always on?"
Over 370 UK organisations across a range of sectors took part in the survey. Findings revealed that less than 50 per cent of organisations surveyed provided their employees with guidance on how to switch off. Surprisingly, more than half also had no formal policies in place to help their employees balance work demands with personal life in general.
While some respondents acknowledged that using devices such as smartphones could improve communication at work and boost productivity (24 per cent), the negative effects of technology on relationships at work (21 per cent) and wellbeing (27 per cent)) were also highlighted.
Dr Gail Kinman commented: "Our findings clearly show that organisations are not helping their staff accommodate to the changing world of work which is likely to have a negative impact on their wellbeing, their work-life balance and their effectiveness. Many individuals we surveyed clearly feel under great pressure not to switch off, leading to intense pressure, poorer performance and worry about what the immediate future holds.
"It's time to take a more proactive approach to helping employees and organisations become more 'e-resilient' and to manage technology in a more healthy and sustainable way."
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170105213128.htm
Exercise, sleep are key to keeping employees from bringing home work frustrations
February 7, 2017
Science Daily/University of Central Florida
A brisk walk or a long swim may be the key to preventing a bad day at the office from spilling over into the home. A study tracked participants' sleep patterns and daytime physical movements found employees who recorded more than 10,900 steps each day were less likely to perpetuate abuse at home.
A study published this month in the Journal of Applied Psychology tracked participants' sleep patterns and daytime physical movements found employees who recorded an average of more than 10,900 steps each day were less likely to perpetuate abuse at home than those recording fewer than 7,000.
"Research shows employees who are mistreated at work are likely to engage in similar behaviors at home," said University of Central Florida's College of Business management professor Shannon Taylor, who teamed up with researchers from Illinois and Wisconsin for the study. "If they've been belittled or insulted by a supervisor, they tend to vent their frustration on members of their household. Our study shows that happens because they're too tired to regulate their behavior."
The study concludes sleep and exercise are intervention points that can be leveraged to prevent the spread of harmful behavior. Study participants included 118 MBA students with full-time jobs who took a survey and then wore activity monitors for a week. A follow-up survey was then sent to the participants' cohabitants.
Taylor said the study found that burning an additional 587 calories can reduce the harmful effects of mistreatment and help prevent it from carrying into the home. For the average American man, these gains can be achieved with an hour of swimming or a brisk 90-minute walk.
"The findings are particularly compelling given recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the American Heart Association to walk between 8,000 and 10,000 steps per day," Taylor said. "I also think the study gives us a new perspective on the importance of getting an adequate amount of sleep and exercise. It's not just good for you, it's good for your spouse, too."
Taylor is an associate professor and Ph.D. program coordinator in the management department at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. His research examines rude, abusive, and unethical behaviors of employees and leaders. His work has appeared in journals in business and applied psychology and has been featured by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News and NPR. He also serves as research director at Knowtro Inc.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170207191902.htm
Does stress lead to lengthier periods of sick leave?
May 30, 2017
Science Daily/Deutsches Aerzteblatt International
The duration of a person’s unfitness for work is determined by more than his/her primary diagnosis. Patients often report psychological problems and a feeling of being burnt out. Researchers analyzed whether an association exists between such psychological symptoms and the length of sick leave, even if patients received their sick note because of purely physical symptoms, such as back pain.
The researchers studied the data of 225 patients, from 14 general practices, who had been issued with a sickness certificate. The diagnoses that prompted the sick leave varied. Respiratory disorders and disorders of the musculoskeletal system were the most common diagnoses. The longest mean periods of sick leave were documented for patients with diagnoses of skin diseases and mental disorders. All study participants completed a questionnaire that included the Maslach Burnout Inventory, General Survey, and Patient Health Questionnaire, with the scales depression, somatization, and anxiety. Patients' characteristics such as sex, age, relationship status, and educational attainment were also captured.
For the total study population, doctors' sick notes were associated with longer periods of sick leave in patients with a lower level of educational attainment (less than 10 years of schooling), independently of the primary diagnosis. An association existed between the length of the sick leave period and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, depression, anxiety, and somatization. When study participants were excluded whose unfitness for work was primarily due to psychological and psychiatric diagnoses, the sick leave period correlated with emotional exhaustion, somatization, and -- almost statistically significantly -- with depression. Sex and relationship status were not relevant.
In a secondary analysis, age and formal education were associated with the duration of sick leave. Each year of increase in age led to an increase in the length of the sick leave period by 1.7%. In persons with higher levels of education, the length of sick leave was reduced by 40%. In terms of the psychological burden, an association of anxiety symptoms with the duration of unfitness to work was primarily noted.
The authors conclude that a holistic approach in patient-centered communication, such as is applied in case of depression and anxiety, may be helpful in psychological or physical symptoms of unknown origin during the consultation with the primary care physician.
Science Daily/SOURCE :https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170530095835.htm
Mindfulness and the Importance of Developing Compassion in your Career
November 22, 2016
By Anne Foy, Guest Contributor
Mindfulness has become something of a buzzword amongst professionals hoping to de-stress, enhance their wellbeing, and take control of their lives. And yet many people aren’t really clear about what mindfulness actually is. Put simply, mindfulness is the practice of paying close attention to the world around you and the way it impacts on your wellbeing: thinking about the clean fresh air as you take several deep breaths, enjoying the sensation of warm water on your skin as you wash your hands.
Effectively, mindfulness involves focusing on the present moment and processing on the thoughts and feelings that moment creates, and is now regarded as a very effective therapeutic tool. Mindfulness helps people to feel calmer, more connected with the world around them, and more aware of their role within it. As a result, one of the ‘side effects’ of practicing mindfulness is that mindful people are more compassionate: and this is becoming increasingly important within the modern working environment, and is something that many professionals are now striving to achieve, separately to a state of mindfulness.
The Professional Benefits of Compassion
There are many professional benefits of demonstrating compassion in the workplace. Creating a culture of compassion within a workplace has been shown to bring out the best in employees within a wide range of different industries, and increases both morale, productivity, and both of these things will ultimately impact the financial bottom line of the company.
Bringing people together in a supportive environment can also lead to career progression Acknowledging the strength and attributes of others doesn’t negate your own achievements: in fact, if anything, showing this kind of support and compassion will only increase your own standing within your company and bring the right attention to you at the same time.
Most important though is the impact it has on individual employee wellbeing: it is important that compassion is not viewed as a self-serving act and simply as a tool to assist career progression. Rather, you should consider the ways that learning to demonstrate true compassion can enhance every aspect of your life and enrich your journey through the world, as well as through your career.
Learning to Show Self-Compassion
As well as showing compassion to others, is it important that we learn to show self-compassion. According to researcher Kristen Neff, self-compassion is composed of three parts: “self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness.” We often find it easier to forgive others, to show them this common humanity, whilst not forgiving ourselves for the mistakes that we make in life.
Many people choose to consider self-compassion to be something of a self-indulgence, but in reality showing compassion to yourself when you fail, make a mistake, or fall short of expectations (both your own and others) will make you a happier and healthier individual. Showing self-compassion when you fail can also help to get rid of the fear of failure so common in many young professionals.
When you are no longer afraid to fail, you are free to take risks, to make leaps of faith, and to ultimately be brave enough to further your career more than you ever felt possible. Everyone fails: everyone suffers hardships, whether they be personal or professional. Forgiving yourself for those mistakes, showing self-compassion, and accepting that you are infallible, just like everyone else, is an important step in your personal development.
Self-compassion may sound like just another buzz word (it has even been called ‘the new mindfulness’) but in reality it is an important life skill to develop if you want to be happy and successful, both in your life and in your career.
Compassion and Mindfulness are a much more important part of career development than you might thing; getting your mind in a happy and healthy space is an important aspect of developing your career and becoming the person you want to be.
Citations
“Why Self-Compassion is the new Mindfulness”, Mindful.org, http://www.mindful.org/self-compassion-new-mindfulness/
“The importance of Mindfulness and compassion at work: LinkedIn Speaker Series with Matthieu Ricard”, LinkedIn, https://blog.linkedin.com/2015/06/25/the-importance-of-mindfulness-and-compassion-at-work-linkedin-speaker-series-with-matthieu-ricard
“Compassion: An essential ingredient of recovery”, Recovery.org, http://www.recovery.org/compassion-an-essential-ingredient-of-recovery/
"What is compassion and how can we cultivate it", The Oxford Mindfulness Centre, http://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/cultivating-compassion/
“Does Mindfulness Make you More Compassionate?”, Berkeley University, http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/does_mindfulness_make_you_compassionate
“10 ways to bring more compassion to the workplace”, The Chopra Center, http://www.chopra.com/articles/10-ways-to-bring-more-compassion-to-the-workplace
Patients with insomnia have altered activity in specific brain regions
Science Daily/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Specific brain regions, including those involved in awareness of self and tendency to ruminate, show altered activity in patients with insomnia when compared to good sleepers, according to a new study.
In what is the largest study of its kind on insomnia, a research group led by Daniel Buysse M.D., professor of psychiatry and clinical and translational science, and the UPMC Professor of Sleep Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, identified ...
Jet lag treatment? Blast of thin air can reset circadian clocks
October 20, 2016
Science Daily/Cell Press
We might not think of our circadian clock until we are jetlagged, but scientists continue to puzzle over what drives our biological timepiece. Now, a study has found that variations in surrounding oxygen levels can reset circadian clocks of mice. If confirmed in humans, the research could help inform how airlines moderate cabin air pressure.
Presently, light, food, and temperature are the best known cues that can influence circadian rhythms. But lead author Gad Asher, a senior scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and his colleagues, including postdoctoral fellows Yaarit Adamovich and Benjamin Ladeuix, wondered if oxygen might also cue circadian rhythms since oxygen absorption in animals varies alongside meals and changing temperatures.
In the paper, the researchers show that changing the concentration of oxygen in cells by just 3%, twice a day, will synchronize mouse cells to a circadian rhythm. They suspected HIF1α was the link between oxygen and the circadian clock because HIF1α plays both a role in oxygen homeostasis in cells. They found that cells with low HIF1α levels won't synchronize in response to oxygen variations.
"It was extremely exciting to see that even small changes in oxygen levels were sufficient to efficiently reset the circadian clock," says Asher. "The study actually raises a lot of important questions; although we show that clock reset by oxygen is dependent on HIF1α, we did not yet fully identify how HIF1α integrates within the core clock circuitry."
The researchers further explored oxygen's effect on circadian rhythms with jetlag experiments. Just like humans, mice are prone to jetlag after a sudden shift in daylight hours. Mice were first left to eat, sleep and run on their wheels in air-controlled environments. Altering oxygen levels alone did not change their circadian rhythms but once mice experienced a 6-hour jump ahead in daylight hours, varying oxygen levels could help them adapt their eating, sleeping and running habits to the new time faster. They also saw that a small drop in oxygen levels 12 hours before the 6-hour daylight shift, or 2 hours afterwards, put the mice back on their circadian schedules faster and this too was dependent on HIF1α levels.
Presently, commercial airliners pressurize cabins to the same air density of a city 6,000-8,000 feet above sea level. This low-pressure saves wear and tear on the airplane, but enough passengers suffer from airsickness in response to this drop in oxygen levels that some airlines are considering ways to increase the pressure on flights. In fact, Boeing designed its new 787 Dreamliner so that it can be pressurized to the equivalent of lower altitudes for this reason. But in light of these findings, the researchers noted passengers may feel better with higher pressurized cabins during flights, but may also lose a potential advantage of recovering from jetlag. And in light of the effects of lower oxygen levels, the researchers now want to see what higher oxygen levels may do to the circadian clock.
"We are very looking forward to seeing the outcome of these experiments -- it will be interesting both from basic science and also from a practical standpoint," said Asher. "I believe passengers might be more enthusiastic to inhale oxygen-enriched air to alleviate jetlag in contrast to low oxygen."
Understanding how oxygen influences the circadian clock goes beyond jetlag. Cardiovascular disease, COPD, shift work sleep disorder, and other common health problems can result in tissues with low oxygen levels. "We show that oxygen works in mammals, specifically rodents, but it will be interesting to test whether oxygen can reset the clock of bacteria, plants, flies and additional organisms," says Asher.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161020142746.htm