Boss' gender can affect workers' stress

Bosses in general can be a pain in the ... well, you know, but a new study finds that your boss' gender can affect just how much pain he or she seems to inflict.

Researchers at the University of Toronto used data from a 2005 national telephone survey of working adults in the United States and compared the stress levels and physical health problems of men and women working in one of three situations: for a lone male supervisor, a lone female supervisor, or for both a male and female supervisor.

The study found that:

* Women who had only one female boss reported more psychological distress (such as trouble sleeping, difficulty focusing on work, depression and anxiety) and physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomach pain or heartburn, neck and back pain and tiredness) than women who worked for one male boss.

* Women who reported to a mixed-gender pair of supervisors also reported more of these symptoms than their peers who worked for a single male boss.

* Men who worked for a single supervisor, regardless of the supervisor's gender, had similar levels of distress. Men who worked for a mixed-gender pair had fewer mental and physical symptoms than those working for a lone male supervisor.

The analysis, detailed in the September issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, controlled for occupation, job sector and other workplace conditions, meaning the results were independent of these factors.

The findings, specifically those of female subordinates with females bosses, contradict theories suggested by previous studies that demographic similarities between a boss and their subordinate would promote harmony in the work place, while demographic differences would create problems.

The researchers speculated that these contradictions may stem from the stereotype that it is more "normal" for men to be leaders and display the typical leadership characteristics. So while female subordinates may expect more "aggressive" traits from a male leader, they could expect more support from a supervisor who is also female than they actually get, said study co-author Scott Schieman.

Women leaders who "act like men" in terms of society's unconscious expectations may be viewed more negatively, Schieman said. He and other sociologists suspect this was a situation faced by Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary races.

总的来说，老板通常都是员工最讨厌的人。不过一项最新研究发现，老板的性别会影响他(她)给员工造成的压力程度。

多伦多大学的研究人员分析了2005年全美的上班族电话调查数据，对男性和女性员工在三种不同的工作环境下的压力水平和健康问题进行了比较。这三种工作环境分别是：有一个男上司、有一个女上司、有男女上司各一位。

研究发现：

•只有一个女上司的女职员精神压力较大（如睡眠差，工作时难以集中精力、抑郁和沮丧等），身体不适症状较多（如头痛、胃痛，胃灼烧，颈部或背部不适以及疲倦），而拥有一个男上司的女员工情况则要好得多。

•与只有一位男上司的女员工相比，拥有一男一女两位上司的女员工所出现的这些不适症状也较多。

•只有一位上司的男职员，无论上这位上司是男是女，他们感受到的压力基本相当。有一男一女两位上司的男职员出现的心理和生理问题比仅有一位男上司的职员少。

该研究在9月份的《健康与社会行为期刊》上发表。研究限定了受访者的职业、职位类别和其它工作环境因素，因此研究结果不受这些因素的影响。

这些发现与之前的研究结果正好相反，尤其是女职员与女老板这一类。此前有研究认为，相同性别的老板与员工在工作中会更有默契，而异性“搭档”则容易出问题。

研究人员推测，这一传统说法可能源于人们的一些固有观念，即男性当领导以及展现出“领导特质”更“合乎情理”。 研究小组成员斯科特•斯切尔曼说，女性员工可能更希望在男上司身上看到一些更“强势”的东西，那么她们自然希望能从女上司那得到更多的支持。

斯切尔曼说，按照当今社会的潜在观念，那些“作风男性化”的女上司可能更不受欢迎。他和其他一些社会学家们怀疑，这可能也是希拉里在民主党初选中所面临一个困境。

Vocabulary:

inflict:造成