Stressed employees avoid communicating with supervisors

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Employees coping with abusive treatment avoid direct communication even though it would be the most effective in terms of emotional wellbeing, reports a study.

"Our study shows that the strategies being used by employees to cope with the stress caused by such behaviour do not lead to the most positive outcomes," said Dana Yagil, professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, who led the study.

The study, which Yagil conducted with Hasida Ben-Zur professor and Inbal Tamir, from the University of Haifa's Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, examined five types of strategies used for coping with the stress factor of abusive treatment, the International Journal of Stress Management reported.

The five types of strategies to cope stress include - directly communicating with the abusive supervisor to discuss the problems; using forms of ingratiation - that is, doing favours, using flattery and compliance; seeking support from others; avoiding contact with the supervisor; and reframing - mentally restructuring the abuse in a way that decreases its threat.

In the study 300 employees were asked to rate the frequency of experiencing abusive behaviour by a supervisor, such as ridicule, invasion of privacy, rudeness and lying, according to a university statement.

The study found that abusive treatment from a superior was most strongly tied with avoiding contact - disengaging from the supervisor as much as possible and to seeking social support.

"It is understandable that employees wish to reduce their contact with an abusive boss to a minimum, however, this strategy further increases the employee's stress because it is associated with a sense of weakness and perpetuates their fear of the supervisor," said Yagil.