On the morning of the Brexit result, there was an unmistakable sense of heaviness and upset at the result. It should perhaps come as no surprise, therefore, that research from Loughborough University finds that major societal and political events can have an impact on employee wellbeing.

The researchers quizzed academics at various British research institutions how they felt about the exit of the country from the EU.  The results were uniformly negative, with most viewing Brexit as a threat rather than a positive challenge.  This, in turn, negatively impacted their perceived job security and even the quality of their relationships with colleagues.

Political fallout

The researchers explain that there has historically been relatively little exploration of the impact political events can have on our wellbeing in the workplace.  Brexit provided a perfect opportunity to do just that, and the academics were asked to complete three distinct questionnaires in September and December 2019 and then again in February 2020.  Each questionnaire was a number of years after the referendum but still prior to the official exit from the EU.

“Our hypothesis when we started our survey was that a feeling of job security and also a sense of belonging, in other words, the quality of relationships with work colleagues, are fundamental human needs and are thus closely associated with the level of personal wellbeing,” the researchers explain.

The authors highlight the growing sense of insecurity as a result of economic uncertainty and increasing globalization, and they wanted to better understand the role these events have on our wellbeing.  They also wanted to understand whether our reaction to these events is affected by whether our assessment of them corresponds to the social norm or not.

“Asking this question, we questioned a prevalent and widely accepted assumption, namely that if a situation is regarded as a challenge, it generally results in positive outcomes—while if it is seen as a threat, the results are generally negative,” the authors explain.

This is not something that is only relevant in relation to Brexit, as other controversial events are likely to have similar effects.  With Brexit in particular seeming to have a universally negative effect, the researchers believe it is something for employers to be aware of

“The perception in terms of a threat unsurprisingly goes hand in hand with a sense of greater job insecurity but is also accompanied by a better relationship with work colleagues,” they explain.  “What we have been able to demonstrate here is that, with regard to psychological health, it is important whether an individual shares the same view or not of a communal event as their peers.”