From time to time a share I joke about some of the really STUPID science that’s going on out there. It’s amusing in a way; but I get very incensed at the waste of money, when some really good trials of holistic principles can’t get off the ground because there are no funds available.
This latest pearl has spent probably tens of thousands of dollars having a team of “researchers” interviewing people who got fired, to see how they felt about it.
Guess what they found? If the boss sacked you nicely, you didn’t feel as pissed off as when the boss was brusque or bad mannered. Did we need a scientific study to figure that out?
More to the point, is it going to make the world a better place, knowing that?
Nah!
The researchers surveyed nearly 1,200 highly educated workers in June and December of 2008 about their psychological well-being, self-esteem and continued identification with their former employer. Nearly half of the participants held jobs in the financial industry before losing their jobs.
The unemployed workers were divided into two groups: 45 people who were unemployed when the study began and 41 people who lost their jobs during the course of the study. Those who voluntarily left jobs, were self-employed or were fully employed throughout the duration of the study were not included.
The researchers found that the unemployed workers who still strongly identified with their former companies and did not blame their former employer for their job loss had more confidence, a stronger sense of purpose and a greater sense of belonging during their unemployment.
The study authors suggested that this sense of belonging helped to minimize the workers’ feelings of isolation. Really? (yawn)
The study was published Nov. 9 in the Journal of Managerial Psychology.
[SOURCE: San Francisco State University, news release, Nov. 9, 2012]
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