Monkeys Teach Us What We Already Knew: Middle Management Is Stressful
No debate necessary: Middle management is a difficult level on the employee food chain. Those working underneath the middle tier see it first-hand in their immediate superiors’ faces and hear it in the tone of their voices—especially when their boss is relaying a change that’s coming from the mysterious “above.”
But a recent study about the social stresses in monkeys pinpoints the exact causes of the woes of the middle manager. Monkeys that aren’t quite at the top often have just as hard a time reaching that level as their human counterparts.
Dr. Susanne Shultz, who oversaw the recent study, observed that unlike those monkeys on the true front lines—and certainly unlike those that reign supreme—middle-managing monkeys are getting hit from both sides while being tasked with keeping the peace among everyone. Dr. Shultz tells e! Science News:
What we found was that monkeys in the middle of the hierarchy are involved with conflict from those below them as well as from above, whereas those in the bottom of the hierarchy distance themselves from conflict. The middle ranking macaques are more likely to challenge, and be challenged by, those higher on the social ladder.
A promotion to middle management hopefully includes a pay raise from an entry level position, but it’s been well documented that money is not the only thing that makes us happy at work. In today’s job market, job security may make employees feel the most satisfaction—something not being felt by middle managers in the IT field these days.
Middle managers have even been theatrically skewered with comic strips like Dilbert and TV shows like The Office making the position look like one of the most difficult jobs that can be done—that is, at a low stress level.
Not only are there similarities between middle managers living in cubicles and those swinging from the trees, but the video below also describes the similar difficulties faced by middle managers in the military.
How do the monkeys stuck in management limbo take out their frustrations? The aforementioned report recorded “agonistic behavior like threats, chases and slaps, submissive behavior like displacing, screaming, grimacing and hind-quarter presentation.”
Let’s hope it doesn’t get that bad at my office or yours.
