You better be as stressed as I am: Working men’s mental health amidst workplace expectations for busyness

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

In western societies, busy lifestyles that include long hours spent in paid employment are highly regarded. Given the ongoing primacy of men’s roles as employees and providers, researchers need to understand men’s mental health in terms of men’s relationships to paid employment and expectations for “busyness”.

OBJECTIVE:

This study is an examination of if and how working men ascribe to workplace expectations for “busyness” and what mental health impacts these expectations can entail.

METHODS:

We present a secondary analysis of narrative data drawn from three focus groups and 23 individual interviews with working men (n = 37) about work-related mental health.

RESULTS:

We found two themes of workplace expectations for busyness: 1) immediate manifestations and 2) background manifestations. Immediate manifestations are intensity and volume of work while background manifestations include a) unspoken messages and b) mixed messages. We found a third theme of 3) impacts of expectations for busyness and this includes a) busyness pride/costs of being “unbusy” and b) trade-offs in self-care.

CONCLUSIONS:

Obvious and subtle workplace expectations for busyness are abundant and may obstruct attending to one’s mental health as well as contribute to a frame of reference where not being busy precipitates feelings of anxiety and depression.