Stressed Out? Slack Off

"THE WALLSTREET JOURNAL

Are slackers more adept at handling work-life stress than type-A go-getters?

A new study finds that may be the case. Those who cope with work-family conflict by becoming busier and looking for more resources to solve problems – type-A multitaskers — actually experience more stress and strain, says the study in theJournal of Applied Psychology.  The researchers studied 193 people who were all combining work and college studies with family duties.

But in a finding that may baffle busy-bee readers, people who avoid problems – those we might call slackers in a different context — who withdraw and, say, lie down and take a nap instead of tackling dilemmas right away, actually do better with life conflict, and seem to have more energy, says the study.

Avoiding problems for the short term, or “disengaging from stressful roles temporarily, may actually help,” the write the authors Tracy Hecht at Concordia University and Julie M. McCarthy at the University of Toronto.

In another interesting (and counterintuitive) finding, the researchers observed that people who seek out other people to provide emotional support also reported more stress. “It may be that their extra efforts take even more time away from other roles, thus increasing their tendency to experience conflicts,” according to the authors."

LINK