People
whose family life regularly interferes with their job are more likely to become
emotionally exhausted and, in turn, verbally abusive, says a study. Having a
supportive boss could, however, curtail this harmful spiral.
"It appears that having a supervisor who is aware and
supportive of work-family balance may not only reduce the work-family conflict
itself but also weaken its downstream effect on verbal aggression," said
study co-author Chu-Hsiang Chang of Michigan State University.
For
the study, Chang, associate professor of psychology, and colleagues surveyed
125 employees at five information-technology companies four times each week for
three consecutive weeks. "We wanted to see if people who experience
work-family conflict are less able to suppress their dark tendencies and more
apt to act out on their aggressive impulses," Chang said.
Indeed,
when family life interfered with work (such as having to miss an important
meeting because of a sick child), participants reported higher emotional
exhaustion, which led them to be ruder or verbally abusive towards supervisors,
co-workers and family members.
Because
supportive supervisors had a positive effect, Chang recommends companies make
it a higher priority to select and train managers, who can provide family
support for employees. "Supportive managers should model the right
behaviour - in other words, don't send your employees emails at 11 pm and
expect them to respond, for example," Chang added.
Employees can also engage in emotional and
physical recovery activities both at work and at home, such as a lunch break
away from the office or stretching exercises for relaxation, Chang said.