Those who are constantly interrupted at work have been shown to release more stress hormones. Researchers have now been able to show this in an experiment. One result is surprising, however.
Doing work undisturbed – this is hardly possible in many professions. The phone rings, important e-mails arrive, the boss keeps interfering with new concerns. It is obvious that such work interruptions are a stress factor. Scientists at ETH Zurich have now been able to show that stress can also be measured physically.
In a study with 90 participants, the team led by the psychologist Jasmine Kerr and the mathematician Mara Nägelin demonstrated that the level of the stress hormone cortisol increased by double if the participants were continuously interrupted during their work – compared to those who were at rest could do their job.
Psychobiological responses measured
In a two-hour experiment, the participants had to do typical office work as employees of an imaginary insurance company, such as typing in handwritten forms or arranging appointments for insurance advisors with their customers. In order to measure the psychobiological reactions, the test persons stated on questionnaires at a total of six points in time how good or bad they were. Meanwhile, her heartbeat was continuously measured with a mobile EKG device and the researchers determined the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the saliva.
The participants were divided into three groups – two stress groups and one control group. Everyone had to do the same job and in the middle of the experiment all participants got a visit: two actors appeared as employees of the insurance’s HR department. While they had the participants in the control group read a sales dialogue, the actors in the two stress groups pretended to look for the most suitable candidates for a promotion from among the participants.
Heartbeat soars
The two stress groups differed in that the participants in the first stress group only put their work aside for the saliva collection. But the participants in the second stress group had to accept additional work interruptions if they received chat messages from their superiors in which they requested urgent information.
The evaluation of the data showed that even a competitive situation for a fictitious promotion is sufficient to get the heart rate up and release the stress hormone cortisol. “The participants in the second stress group released almost twice as much cortisol as those in the first group,” says Mara Nägelin. And Raphael Weibel adds: “So far, work interruptions have mostly only been researched with regard to their effects on work performance and productivity. With our study, we are showing for the first time that they also have an effect on the amount of cortisol released – and therefore actually also on the biological stress reaction ”.
Stress is perceived differently
However, the physical stress responses did not seem to correlate with the perceived stress. The participants in the second stress group with chat breaks rated themselves as calmer and in a better mood than the participants in the first stress group without chat breaks. “Interestingly, they rated the situation as equally challenging, but less threatening than the first stress group,” says Jasmine Kerr. “We suspect that the additional work interruptions mobilized more physical resources through the release of cortisol and that this supported emotional and cognitive stress management.” In addition, it is possible that the work interruptions distracted the participants from the impending social stress situation, making them less threatening and consequently felt less stress. Nevertheless, these results were surprising, according to the psychologist.
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