Job stigma bringing you down? New research says to ‘shake it off’

The stereotypical employee can be at an office in front of a computer screen working from nine to five, but for many employees, the working day is filled with manual labor, dangerous environments and quarter-evenings.

Your local garbage collector, for example, is someone with work that society could consider “dirty”, both literally and socially.

For so-called “dirty work”, the environment can be stressful, stigma can be difficult to ignore, but work must be done to operate society.

Scott Dust, Ph.D., professor in the management department of the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business, worked with doctoral students Sodiq Babatunde and Ben Fagan to analyze the impact of stress and stigmatization on well-being in certain careers.

Their study, “Shake it off: the role of self -awareness to dictate if the dirty job reduces satisfaction by emotional exhaustion”, was recently published in the Journal of Management & Organization. The title is an intentional nod to the successful single of Taylor Swift, “Shake It Off” because the advice in his song apply directly to the results of the study.

The word “dirty” can apply to various types of stigma: literally think, as in the management of wastewater and waste, or socially and morally, as in the staff in prison or the legal defense.

“Think of a society without people like prison guards or morticians. It would be chaotic,” said Babatunde.

“These workers are sensitive to increased levels of emotional exhaustion, a specific form of professional exhaustion,” said Dust, who is also principal director of Lindner’s professional programs. “This is problematic because professional exhaustion leads to a reduction in satisfaction in their career and their life in general.”

Ra recade “dirty” work

In the study, the team defined “dirty work” as a “professional stigmatization” which “stems from societal perceptions of works such as undesirable or impure”.

“Sales workers keep the environment clean, help us live healthy and protect us,” said Babatunde. “These guys are essential workers. They do things that many of us cannot do. Despite this, they are always stigmatized.”

“The way to fight this is to guarantee that the pride of these workers feels that their work gives them and what they give to society is greater than the bite of judgment,” said Fagan.

The team worked together to investigate the relationship between dirty work, emotional exhaustion and career results by analyzing the requirements these types of jobs need and the resources they offer to employees. They found that in empirically measuring employee satisfaction, they could specifically follow the effects of the stigma that had been presumed before only. According to Dust, these professions are sub-studied in relation to their peers in white collar.

The data was clear: workers with more self -confidence were less affected by all the preconceived concepts of their career.

“Although easier to say than to do, those who do not tend to worry about what people say or think about them are much more resistant to be able to shake it and maintain levels of satisfaction with their work, than others consider it” dirty “,” said Dust.

The practical applications of the study extend beyond simple personal reflection. The team also provided guidelines to managers to identify emotional exhaustion and meet the challenges of employees in these stigmatized professions.

“This specifically helps managers to understand how you manage these stigmata,” said Fagan.

“We provide various interventions that managers can do that will help their workers reduce emotional exhaustion or help them interpret their role in a way that says:” I am precious. What I do is worth it and contributes to society. “”

The lucrative effects of having thick skin

Dust compared their research to the reality TV show “Dirty Jobs”. “The people of this show kill him, right? They earn a lot of money, they have a lot of autonomy, they have a lot of independence,” he said. “These are the types of professions that the world needs. If you can manage it, you may well be paid for this,” he said.

“Our samples come from the United States and the United Kingdom, but the applications are transferable,” said Babatunde. “Back in Nigeria, there are certain jobs and professions which can be very lucrative. For example, the National Union of Road Transport which collects taxes with bus drivers. People do not receive them well, but they can earn a lot of money if they do not care about what people think,” he explained, noting that it is a well-loaded profession in Nigeria.

While focusing on the dirty work, Fagan noted that the results are applicable, whatever your career.

“I focus on research centered on image and identity and how people balance both. This research on dirty work is at the heart of that, but we can also think outside these specific professions,” said Fagan. “What we have found through this study on emotional exhaustion and how to manage it is that it is applicable to any job. People can always assume who you are in your work according to your title.”