Middle managers often experience stress at work, as the face of conflicts and the "top" and "bottom"

It may seem that the most stressful work among executives - top managers. As the study by the universities of Manchester and Liverpool, it is not so: the most unlucky middle managers who have to clash with the bosses and subordinates.

Katie Edwards of Liverpool Institute of Integrative Biology spent about 600 hours, watching the female macaque named Barbara, who lives in Staffordshire reserve for monkeys. The study included observation of one female during the day and recording of all social contact with relatives macaques. These include hostile behavior (threats, harassment and physical abuse), submissive behavior (harassment, shouts and grimaces and demonstration backside) and affiliative behavior (talk, demonstration of teeth, hugging and grooming).

The next day, stool samples of the same females were collected and analyzed in the laboratory of endocrinology to determine the level of stress hormones. It was found that the highest levels of stress hormones was, unsurprisingly, after the manifestations of hostile behavior, but no connection between the decline in the level of these hormones and affiliative behavior were found.

It was found that the highest levels of stress hormones are just a monkey, standing in the middle of the social ladder, as the conflict with the subordinate and superior individuals. In addition, stress is associated with ambition - if the monkey is in the middle of the social hierarchy, it tries to dominate. Scientists believe that the findings can be applied to other social species, including man.

via factroom.ru