Out of context

Journal for Quality and Participation, The, Summer 2003

The next step will be to uncover the ways in which "finding meaning gets 'under the skin' and influences the immune system," say Julienne E. Bower, Ph.D., of the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues. The study was published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine with support by the Norman Cousins Program in Psychoneuroimmunology at the University of California, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Science Foundation.

Living a meaningful life should be a goal of everyone. The physiological and psychological benefits of a meaningful life are obviously immeasurable. From a workplace perspective, it probably can be concluded that there is a link between how well job duties fit a person's "meaning for life" and that person's overall health and absenteeism/tardiness. Although the link between these factors has been assumed for years, there may be an actual physiological reason behind the connection.

New Research Dispels Popular Myth That a Bully's Words Will Never Hurt You

Research by Dr. Stephen Joseph, a psychologist at the University of Warwick, on the topic of bullying at secondary schools dispels the well-known saying, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Contrary to the popular belief, the study reveals that verbal-victimization has a particular impact on the victim's feeling of self-worth, and that name-calling can significantly reduce self-esteem. In fact, verbal abuse can have more impact upon victims' perceptions of self-worth than physical attacks, such as punching, attacks on property, stealing, or the destruction of belongings.

The study assessed 331 school pupils in England and revealed that as many as 40% were bullied at some time during their schooling. It suggested that one third of bullied children may suffer from clinically significant levels of post-traumatic stress - so rather than helping to toughen up school pupils, bullying could seriously affect their mental health.

To analyze the effects of different types of aggression, a "victim scale" was used to assess the experience of physical victimization, verbal victimization, social manipulation, and attacks on property. All types of bullying resulted in lower self-esteem, but social manipulation, such as excluding the victim from taking part in games, was more likely to lead to post-traumatic stress, and verbal taunts typically led to lower self-worth.

The study also suggested that verbal bullying or social manipulation can lead to victims feeling helpless and a lack control over their own feelings and actions. Those who feel that power and control lie with the bully, rather than internally, are much more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress or lower self-worth.

Bullying in the workplace needs to have the spotlight pointed in its direction, too. Beyond the obvious forms of bullying associated with harassment and discrimination, there are many more subtle bullying tactics used frequently in many organizations. For example, many of the recent accounting and ethical problems reported in the national press also were accompanied by a component of bullying - particularly when managers and senior executives threatened employees with termination and other forms of retribution. Stopping bullying in the workplace should be a prime concern for all managers and employees.