It’s no secret that men and women are different. We have a different balance of hormones, we generally react to things differently and we handle our emotions quite differently. Of course, this is speaking in generalities and there are always exceptions. However, when it comes to the workplace, there are many more differences. First of all, we don’t really have to mention the differences in salary when it comes to men and women. Save a few industries and fields, men usually earn more than women. At the same time though, a job can increase the risk of depression for both men and women. However, the reasons for depression caused by a job are very different for the genders.
Right off the bat, most people would say that women are more attuned to their emotions than men. Again, we’re speaking in generalities here. A woman is much more likely to get emotional during a sad film then a man. When it comes to depression, this is a large factor. According to a study discussed in Fox News, women who feel they are not appreciated at work or were not awarded sufficiently for their efforts had an increase risk of depression. Women who felt they were rewarded appropriately had a lower risk. When it comes to men, though, there was no link in depression and the lack of appreciation or reward at work.
Instead, it was the amount of job strain that increased the risk of depression in men. This relationship, not surprisingly, had no affect on women. Can you see how different we are and how differently we are affected by things at work? As a woman, I can easily say that not feeling appreciated at work would certainly be an issue for me. For men though it seems like the study shows that overtime and long grueling hours is what really effects them. The differences don’t stop there though. When it comes to family and work, both men and women experienced depression when there was a conflict between the two. However, their reasons for depression were the exact opposite of each other.
Men experienced an increase of depression when their families got in the way of their work. Conversely, when work life gets in the way of women’s family life, their risk of depression increases. Basically, men don’t want things getting in the way of their work and women don’t want things getting in the way of their family. Quite the opposite, isn’t it? This is proven even more when men are more affected than women when they achieve things at work. Apparently men feel better about their achievements than women.
Let’s take a look at the numbers, though. The study found that 11 percent of men that “worked full time and had high job strain developed depression, compared with 1.5 percent of men who worked full time and did not have high job strain.” The number of people that actually became depressed because of work was much greater for women. Specifically, 4.5 percent of women became depressed while only 2.9 percent of men did. Though men and women may deal with these things differently, when dealing with the fear of losing their jobs, both men and women experienced an increase in the risk for depression. This makes perfect sense seeing as though no one, man or woman, wants to lose their job.
It’s interesting to see how different men and women are and how differently we react to the issues we face at work. This kind of information can be very valuable to employers and companies. If you know what stresses your employees out and how different genders react to work load, feedback and strain then you can better understand your employees. Whether you are a man or a women, it is so important to understand how you are feeling and if your job is starting to affect your happiness. If it is, you need to try and understand where your feelings are coming from and if they can be dealt with easily.
What do you make of these findings? Do you agree? Tell me about it in the comments or tweet me @nicole_spark.
SOURCE: Fox News
IMAGE: Courtesy of PEO Outpost
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