In a thought-provoking conversation, Tessa West, a psychology professor at NYU, dives into the intricate emotions of job satisfaction and how they mirror romantic relationships. She discusses the disconnect between our feelings and the narratives we create about our work, revealing how this often leads to misguided career decisions. Tessa also introduces the concept of 'Job Therapy,' outlining key drivers of job dissatisfaction and offering strategies to regain joy in our professional lives, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Job dissatisfaction often mirrors romantic relationship struggles, revealing that our emotional experiences can be misleading rationalizations.
The feeling of ambivalence between attachment and dissatisfaction can lead to indecision about staying or leaving a job.
Recent expressions of workplace unhappiness reflect deeper identity crises, indicating a shift towards anthropomorphizing careers similar to romantic failures.
Deep dives
Assessing Job Satisfaction
Many people experience feelings of dissatisfaction with their jobs, often questioning their happiness and considering career changes. These sentiments can stem from numerous subtle cues leading to a broader sense of unhappiness that is hard to articulate. Psychologists suggest that our narratives about job dissatisfaction can be misleading, resembling the feelings one might have in troubled romantic relationships. Instead of looking for rational explanations, it’s important to recognize the emotional complexity involved in职场relationships.
The Impact of Ambivalence
A key insight from discussions around workplace discomfort is the notion of ambivalence, where individuals feel both attachment and dissatisfaction toward their jobs simultaneously. This creates a state of indecision where some may remain in roles they despise due to familiarity, while others leave haphazardly without a clear plan. This indecisive feeling can lead to perpetual dissatisfaction and an internal struggle reminiscent of ending a romantic relationship. Recognizing these feelings is crucial, as it can help individuals address their career discontent more tangibly.
Understanding the Shift in Job Perception
In recent years, the way people express their unhappiness at work has evolved, moving from objective terms like burnout to deeper emotional language that reflects personal identity crises. Workers now use expressions reflective of romantic disappointment, suggesting a deeper psychological dimension to their job dissatisfaction. This paradigm shift indicates that many individuals are anthropomorphizing their careers, attributing to them traits similar to those of failed relationships. Understanding this shift can help identify the roots of their dissatisfaction and encourage them to seek clarity regarding their emotions.
Navigating Workplace Roles and Responsibilities
Individuals often report feeling overwhelmed due to taking on additional responsibilities at work that were not part of their original job descriptions. This includes informal roles that arise from a desire for recognition or acceptance within a workplace, leading to burnout and stress. Furthermore, the way in which people juggle multiple roles can impair their ability to focus and complete tasks effectively, diminishing overall productivity. Recognizing and asserting boundaries around role expectations is essential to mitigate these feelings of being stretched too thin.
Identifying Career Drivers of Discontent
Five primary drivers often cause individuals to contemplate leaving their jobs, including feelings of detachment from their professional identities and the perception that their roles have changed beyond recognition. Additionally, feelings of being overwhelmed, undervalued, or underappreciated can significantly affect job satisfaction. Each driver emphasizes the importance of reflection on personal needs and aspirations in relation to one's career. By understanding these drivers, individuals can better navigate their career paths and make informed decisions to enhance their job satisfaction.
Are you unhappy at your job? Are you starting to consider a change of career because of how your current work makes you feel? Do you know why?
According to our guest in this episode, Dr. Tessa West, a psychologist at NYU, if you are currently contemplating whether you want to do the work that you do everyday you should know that although this feeling is common, psychologists who study this sort of thing have discovered that our narratives for why we feel this way are often just rationalizations and justifications.
In fact, it turns out that the way we psychologically evaluate the jobs we think we might not want to do anymore is nearly identical to how we evaluate romantic relationships we feel like we might no longer want to be a part of. The feelings are usually undeniable, but our explanations for why we feel the way we feel can be wildly inaccurate, and because of that, our resulting behavior can be, let’s say, sub-optimal. We sometimes stay far longer than we should or make knee-jerk decisions we later regret or commit to terrible mistakes that could have been avoided.
