Some Like It Tough

Develoment, according to the Princeton University model, is driven 10% by classroom training, 20% by learning through others, and 70% by direct experience. New year resolutions don't normally result in people planning really tough projects for that 70% bucket. Companies' accelerated development plans however, sometimes do.

A study published in the current issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Dr. Cohen Silver, E. Alison Holman, also of U.C. Irvine, and Mark D. Seery, of the University at Buffalo, looked at the perhaps counter-intuitive effects adverse experiences may have on subsequent resilience, mental health and well-being. The researchers followed nearly 2,000 adults for several years, monitoring their mental well being and upsetting life experiences before and during the study (including divorce, the death of a friend or parent, a serious illness, and being in a natural disaster, like an earthquake or flood).

As one might expect, exposure to adverse life events typically predicts subsequent negative effects on mental health and well-being. Interestingly though, exposure to none also results in below-average well-being (at the bottom of the list, the 150 individuals who reported to have experienced none of 37 upsetting events on the survey were not the most satisfied with their lives either. The middle group, those reporting between two and seven upsetting events, were the ones to score highest on several measures of life satisfaction. They also showed the most resilience when facing events like the loss of a job or divorce.

Could one take this thought to the lesser, perhaps more mundane world of professional experiences? Could one conclude that similar to the above, a reasonable number of stretching, painful experiences (rather than none or too many) delivery professional well-being in the long-run?