PKF discuss job stress and other consequences

In modern society, each person is inevitably immersed in a social context which consists of close interaction with other members. People interact with each other in various ways about their occupation, family and friendships, among many others.

Inevitably, stress is very likely to emerge when there is a lack of congruence in the relationship between a person and his setting. According to Pearlin and Bierman (2013), stress is a result of a conflict that arises due to a person’s inability to adapt to conditions in a social setting. ‘Stressors’ are defined as anything that causes stress. Wheaton (1994) classifies five forms of stressors, these being chronic, traumatic, nonevents, daily problems and lifeevents. According to Wheaton (1994), these can occur either for a short-term or long-term period.

More often than not, stress is trivial, but the conditions that cause these minor stresses – such as having a busy schedule at work, having a child sick at home while the parent is at work, rushing from work to do the household chores and preparing dinner, among others, can have considerable consequences for relationships in the long term.

When people experience stress in other areas of their work environment, this spills over into their personal relationships. The incidence of a second job and the number of hours involved is increasing due to the evolution in monetary pressures. Therefore problems that are work-related are seen as a major source of stress in today’s society. Studies have shown that people take home with them the stress and tension from work and other social settings, and end up damaging personal relationships.

In addition to the above, stress makes people feel more distracted and less affectionate. In today’s society, most people spend the majority of their time at work in order to pay off a mortgage over a 40-year period, apart from paying for holidays and home improvements. As a result, people have less time for leisure activities which, in turn, causes alienation between couples and the community.

It is often commented upon that stress tends to cause poor attitudes and also leads to increased vigilance. Therefore, the stressed person in a relationship is more likely to notice their partner’s undesirable behaviour and is also more likely to react to them in a negative way.

Stress reduces patience and increases irritability and hostility, which may lead to frequent disagreements between couples. It comes as no surprise that stressed individuals are less compassionate and less likely to show empathy when

arguing with their partner. Issues tend not to be dealt with constructively.

When people are unemployed, they feel emarginated. Typically, they are unable to pay any bills or loans, live an adequate live, purchase a home or have access to credit. As a result, they feel stressed due to being unable to satisfy their needs.

Apart from causing financial difficulties, unemployment also lowers self-esteem and increases the chances of isolation. In what appears to be a dichotomy, employment places stress and pressure on family life. As stated earlier, due to financial obligations, parents work longer hours and thus have less time for their family. As a result, they are unable to enjoy quality time together. The situation tends to be even worse when employers refuse to recognise that their employees have family responsibilities. This means that couples are less likely to resolve their issues at home if they are employed in occupations that are not ‘family friendly’.

Needless to say, in Malta – since the introduction of divorce – one finds that people’s attitude towards marriage has changed considerably in the past five years. The ease of obtaining a divorce has led couples to walk away from their problems instead of addressing them: divorce has changed the important nature of marriage. While previously the institution of marriage was seen as a permanent life-time relationship, today it tends to be seen as a loose contract. It could be argued that if divorce was not an available escape partners – as in the past – would make more effort to resolve issues in their relationship rather than walk away from them.

In turn, divorce can have a negative impact on children, no matter what age they are. Witnessing their parents break up, trying to adjust to going back and forth between two houses and being away from one parent while being with the other all generate a challenging new family situation in which to live. For some children, divorce is certainly a period of crisis. Divorce proceedings tend to impact on children and adolescents in a different way. It weakens the link to the adolescent’s dependence. Most often, divorce incites a regressive response in the child linked to a more aggressive response in the adolescent. Undoubtedly, the fall-out from divorce procedures creates unfamiliarity, instability and insecurity.

In a family situation, the tension resulting from a contested divorce obviously puts pressure on the child. Children want to feel more connected. A relapse of personal relationships sometimes has a remedial consequence on parents hoping to settle their differences. Mediation facilities sometimes succeed in bringing them close to each other again. On the other hand, adolescents behave more aggressively and rebelliously, which exacerbates the tension with friends and neighbours.

What is the recent position concerning family failures? According to the National Statistics Office, there was a slight decline in the rate of registered separations (from 63.87 per cent in 2011 to 53.19 per cent in 2016) and annulments (from 21.95 per cent in 2011 to 8.88 per cent in 2016). However, it is evident that, over the past few years, there has been an increase in divorce cases. Sadly, the total number of dissolved marriages and divorces increased from 14.18 per cent in 2011 to 37.94 per cent in 2016.

To end on a critical note: while Malta can boast of full employment, the rate of separations and divorce is not slowing down. More efforts are needed to resolve the social problems experienced by our ever-growing society in order to improve our well-being.

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