Stress bragging: ‘I don’t even realise I’m doing it, I suppose ... But I’m definitely guilty. I think it just feels like venting’
'Focusing on the negatives of your job can undermine your coping abilities and affect your behaviour,' says TV psychologist Honey Langcaster-James.Jamie was a nice enough guy, all things considered, but he had one flaw – Jamie loved to boast about how busy he was. He had to be the busiest, most-put-upon person in the office where we worked. He complained from morning to night about how much stress and strain he was under. And you couldn’t stop him talking. You couldn’t avoid him.
“It’s not the being stressed part that’s a problem,” the study’s lead author, Jessica Rodell, told the Guardian. “We found that if I perceive you as stressed, I actually see you as more competent. If you genuinely feel stressed, it’s okay to find the right confidant to share with and talk about it. But be mindful that it is not a badge of honour to be bragged about.” Otherwise, she warns, “they wind up feeling more stressed, which leads to higher burnout or withdrawal from their work.
“It’s kind of like an expression of solidarity in a way,” suggested a pal who works in video production. “It’s like, we’re all overworked, we’re all underpaid, here’s a way for us to complain together, around the water-cooler or whatever and share the burden.” As cost-of-living crises spiral around us and wages stagnate, we’re becoming more and more individualistic in the workplace. Last year, research from Oxfam illustrated that workers in Ireland effectively took an almost 4 per cent pay cut in 2022 with wage growth lagging behind inflation. Is it any wonder we’re so stressed out? Is it any wonder we’re turning on each other?
Bragging as a way for someone to “convey that they are indispensable to the organisation” can actually backfire, Langcaster-James says. “It may be reflective of a lack of security. They may feel that they need to highlight and amplify their work so they can further solidify their position.
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