Your job culture might be affecting your child negatively without you even knowing it
We spend most of our time working in a day and as it turns out, it does affect our behavior even when we come back home. In a study which has been published by the American Psychological Association, it was found that women who tend to experience rude, disrespectful, impolite behavior at the workplace or otherwise are more likely to engage in strict parenting. This can have a negative impact on their children. “We predicted that when the confidence working mothers have in their parenting ability is depleted as a result of incivility, they may be more inclined to engage in strict, controlling parenting behaviors,” study researcher Angela Dionisi, a business and management professor at Carleton University, in Ontario, Canada said.
As reported by New York Post, for the research, 146 working mothers and their spouses were asked to share about their work culture. This included experiences with rude coworkers or bosses at their workplaces, along with their styles and effectiveness as a parent. It was found that mothers who experienced rude behavior at work, this could be not being appreciated for a job well done or having a bad day at work, were more likely to have a restrictive way of parenting.
This could include punishment-heavy or a tendency to yell at children for a small thing and not encouraging them enough. “This style of parenting has been associated with a variety of negative outcomes for the children, including associating obedience and success with love, aggressive behavior outside the home, being fearful or overly shy around others, lower levels of self-esteem, suffering from depression and anxiety and struggling with self-control,” Angela said.
At the same time, a negative work environment can also affect the self-esteem of a woman. It is believed that mothers might slowly start doubting their ability to be a good mother. Which also explains why they would settle for harsher treatment when it comes to parenting their children.
“Being on the receiving end of workplace incivility has been linked to lower levels of effort and performance on the job, higher levels of stress and impaired attention, information processing, and decision-making,” Angela said. However, this is not the only study to find a link between workplace behavior and relationships at home. A recent study from the University of Illinois found that employees who received rude or condescending emails channeled their stress to their significant others.
This usually caused both parents to withdraw from work the following week. Overall, it is necessary that people realize the extent to which their work culture could have an impact on their personal life. For instance, one should stage interventions in order to ensure that the work culture is a comfortable environment for everyone to work in. At the same time, employees should be educated about the effect a negative work culture will have on a person's personal life.
"There should be greater resources for family members of those who experience this prevalent workplace behavior,” Angela added. “We hope that these findings will encourage working mothers who are experiencing this mistreatment at work to seek support."