I was born this way

Oh yes the old argument of nature versus nurture has surfaced again and this time in relation to stress. I’ve always rallied against believing that my genetic code has a huge influence on my overall being, that in fact things can be changed and that the larger part of who I am is what I have shaped from my experiences but then maybe that is because I want to believe that things can change, but maybe I’m wrong. This article http://www.timothy-judge.com/documents/GeneticinfluencesonCSEjobsatisfactionandworkstress.pdf Genetic influences on core self-evaluations, job satisfaction, and work stress: A

behavioral genetics mediated model about work stress and job satisfaction has been reported like this:

 Work stress, job satisfaction and health problems due to high stress have more to do with genes than you might think, according to research by Timothy Judge, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business

And later on

The battle of nature vs. nurture shows that even at work, nature wins. Changing a job to free yourself of stress is probably not going to do the trick unless you appreciate your own predispositions toward stress. http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/33371-feeling-stressed-by-your-job-dont-blame-your-employer-study-shows/

And this kind implies that actually a persons ability to withstand stress is about their genetic code and not the choices that they make or maybe it doesn’t. However one thing is certain when research is reporting that there (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/sep/14/work-stress-risk-heart-attack) Work stress can raise risk of heart attack by 23%, study finds. A greater understanding of why and how people feel stress is required.

So what about this genetic influences and is it really such a determinant of a persons’ ability to withstand stress and gain job satisfaction?

Certainly we all have strengths and weaknesses and some feel stress more than others but can their genetic code really hold the lion share of the answer as to why?

Well for me, and I’m not an expert but this paragraph is a bit laughable

As for job satisfaction, several studies by Arvey and colleagues (Arvey et al., 1989, 1994) have found measures of job satisfaction to be heritable. We are not aware of any evidence on the heritability of measures of job or work stress. However, there is ample reason to believe that work stress is heritable, too. Autonomic reactions to stressors – such as elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and galvanic skin response – are substantially heritable(Lensvelt-Mulders & Hettema, 2001), as are putative causes, such as stressful life events (Kendler & Baker, 2007). Moreover, Federenko et al. (2006) found significant heritability (h2 = .30) for a measure of perceived stress. Thus, though direct evidence is lacking, evidence indirectly supports an expectation that work stress is heritable. Finally, it is of no surprise—given a voluminous body of research showing substantial heritabilities for nearly every health condition (Johnson & Krueger, 2005)—to expect that health problems are heritable.

1^st please note heritability is composed of more than genetic factors

2^nd just because something is similar has been found to be heritable does not mean that this will be found to be too

3^rd perceived stress is not the same as actual stress and telling me there’s ample evidence when they have only quoted these ones is not convincing me.

I guess the biggest problem here is that I don’t know enough about the area of study to really get to grips with the work.

I would say that as the paper goes on it does produce results to back up that health problems and job satisfaction and stress are linked to core self evaluations (or how you think of you self as defined by their statements please look to the paper for them) and also that there is a difference between the mono zygotic and di-zygotic twins but then I never really expected that it wouldn’t. We are all affected by our genetics. I guess the nail in the coffin for me with this is the heritability which ranged from 0.32 and 0.47 which he calls substantial however the fact that very few estimates of the environmental factors where made and the small sample size for monozygotic twins makes me think that this in fact and over estimate and possibly quite a large one.

The annoying factor is that many people will read this substantial influence that’s quoted and think blimey some people are always going to be stressed and there’s not much we can do about that but I’m not convinced. I feel very much that people have no idea what to do to help

 And here’s the thing while I was reading this week I found this article Belief in Control of One’s Destiny Tied to Healthier Lifestyle (http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/17/belief-in-control-of-ones-destiny-tied-to-healthier-lifestyle/44699.html). It’s just a short piece but the kind that makes you think that if a belief such as having the ability to change things for you betterment results in people having a healthier, more active lifestyle then what else does it affect. And given the size of this study I am far more inclined to believe however it has its own limitations. The premise of the research is simple really and what it highlighted was when people had the belief of control that they made better, healthier choices. Interestingly stress of feeling stressed is about (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/sep/14/work-stress-risk-heart-attack)

They considered job strain to involve high demands on the individual and little freedom to make his or her own decisions about how and when to do the work.

So maybe that’s the key, feeling you have a degree of control?