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brainless muppets die earlier

hbns | 25.05.2002 09:44

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MINDLESS JOBS HARDER ON LIFE EXPECTANCY THAN OFFICE STRESS



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Workers with little latitude for decision making die earlier than employees with more flexibility, even if the latter have high-stress jobs, according to a new study.
"The lack of control a person had in his or her job substantially increased the hazard of death," says Benjamin C. Amick III, Ph.D., of the University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston. The research team says this is the first study to examine the psychosocial impact of working conditions over the cumulative life course of a representative sample of U.S. working adults.

Workers with little control in their jobs were 43 to 50 percent more likely to die during a period of five to 10 years than workers who had high-stress jobs but more decision-making responsibilities.

The study, published in the May/June issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, included more than 25,000 subjects who were employed for a minimum of three years. Information was collected annually starting in 1968 and ending in 1991.

Study participants were categorized into four work states: high demands with low decision latitude, low demands with high decision latitude, low demands with low decision latitude and high demands with high decision latitude.

The low demands/low decision state, which the study defines as passive work, may reflect jobs that are largely lacking in meaningful content, the authors suggest.

"This alienating work could result in social disengagement and/or adoption of high-risk behaviors that lead to a higher risk of death," Amick says. "In addition to the amount of job control a person has during a working life, the meaningfulness of work may be an important contributor to [risk of dying]."

Because this study was designed to look at cumulative effects on workers over their entire lives, the researchers were also able to show that the longer blacks lived, the lower their relative risk of dying. This may reflect the finding that blacks are more likely to die young than whites.

Overall, being employed seemed to have a protective effect or, if viewed the other way, being unemployed may undermine people's health and increase their risk of dying.

The study was funded in part through grants from the National Institute of Aging and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

hbns
- Homepage: http://www.hbns.org/newsrelease/jobstress5-23-02.cfm

Comments

Hide the following 3 comments

me again

25.05.2002 14:54

does anyone else here object to the current parlance using the term 'muppets' to imply mental deficiency ? do those people who grew up with the enlightened attitudes expressed on 'sesame street' sense a rather nasty motive in this use of the word 'muppets?' (not just here, but in the average desultory conversation)

muppets ?


Title chosen in Poor Taste

27.05.2002 10:06

correct, people who work on assembly-lines or doing menial, repetitive tasks are by no means brainless nor muppets, as HBNS would seem to suggest - they are just trying to earn a living, feed their family, etc. Often, they have little alternative employment available.

They are, however, among the most intelligent, open-minded and likeable people I have ever met - not full of sneering superiority, in sharp contrast to our friend HBNS.

As for the study itself, I doubt if it has much validity, as other significant factors such as poverty, diet, etc., both possibly concommitant to a low-paying job, could show the same results.

HBNS, you need to work in the cleaning industry for a few years - here's hoping your share-portfolio tanks suddenly!!

Regards, BlackPope

BlackPope
- Homepage: ahriman.com


toxics and accidents

27.05.2002 16:16

The report doesn't show whether the study compensated for the relative exposure to toxic substances and accidents in the workplace - i.e. I'd have thought people in 'low-control' jobs are more likely to be manual workers exposed to potentially toxic substances and/or on-the-job accidents while 'high-control' workers are more likely to be in nice safe offices. That's even before you start looking at poverty, diet and other known risk factors of having a shit job and low social status.

And yes, I do find the use of 'muppet' in this context offensive - I understood it normally refers to someone who can't get their head together (as if they were stuffed with fluff) which is a reasonable usage.

laura


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