伴侶支持有助於減輕工作壓力

A major ingredient to taking the pain out of a stressful day at work is a supportive partner at home, a new study has confirmed。

It may not seem like a groundbreaking conclusion but the study, from Florida State University, is the first to quantify the effects that a sympathetic ear can have at home and at work。

Professor Wayne Hochwarter, author of the study, found that highly stressed employees had a 25 percent higher level of concentration levels if they had a harmonious home life。

They were also 33 percent more likely to have positive relationships with colleagues, and a 20 percent higher level of job satisfaction。

Previous studies have linked work-related stress to a range of mental and physical illnesses, such as depression and obesity。

But this study shows how stress can be a vicious circle - adversely affecting the way employees perform at work, which can lead to even more workplace stress。

Professor Hochwarter said the mental and physical wellbeing of employees were at risk if they came to work still stressed from the day before。

He said: 'When you're still angry or upset from yesterday's stress, your workday will likely go in only one direction - down.'

And there were obvious benefits at home as well. Professor Hochwarter's paper said employees with strong home support were 25 percent less likely to suffer from after-work fatigue。

Having an awareness of a partner's daily work demands - such as deadlines, a lack of adequate resources and bad bosses - could ensure that couples always communicated, and a partner could see when their loved one was underplaying or exaggerating a problem。

The ability to bring a partner back to the middle - building them up when they feel down in the dumps, or talking them down when they are overly agitated - also played a crucial role。一項新研究證實，家有賢內助確實能較大地減輕工作壓力帶來的焦慮和疲憊。

這看起來也許並不是什麼開創性的研究結果，不過佛羅里達州立大學的這一研究卻是首次將懷着同情心傾聽在家庭中和職場中的作用進行量化。

該研究的作者韋恩•霍赫瓦特教授發現，在高壓下工作的員工如果家庭生活和諧的話，注意力水平比其他人高出25%。

此外，這些人和同事保持良好關係的可能性要高出33%，工作滿意度也要高出20%。

先前的研究曾將工作壓力和一系列精神和身體疾病聯繫起來，包括抑鬱症和肥胖症。

不過本研究顯示，壓力也可以造成惡性循環——對員工的工作表現產生負面影響，從而帶來更多的工作壓力。

霍赫瓦特教授說，如果員工開始一天的工作時仍受到前一天壓力的困擾，那麼他的精神和身體健康就會受到危害。

他說：“如果你依然因爲昨天的壓力而感到惱怒或心煩，你這天的工作表現只會向一個方向發展——直線下降。”

家庭對減輕工作壓力則有顯著的效果。霍赫瓦特教授的論文稱，擁有強大的家庭支持的員工下班時感到疲憊的可能性比其他人低25%。

瞭解伴侶日常工作上的一些要求——例如任務完成的最後期限、缺少足夠的資源以及苛刻的上司——可以保證伴侶之間保持溝通順暢，而且其中一方可以看出自己的愛人是對問題輕描淡寫還是在誇大問題。

讓伴侶恢復平和心態的能力——在伴侶情緒低落時幫助其建立信心，或在伴侶過度激動時讓其冷靜下來——也發揮着關鍵的作用。