Fired employees will keep feeling unhappy over the course of several years, while those who are widowed or divorced can eventually return to their previous state of well-being much sooner. “After someone loses a partner, [well-being will] take a big dip and then, on average, it’ll get back to previous levels,” according to Tricia Curmi of the What Works Center for Wellbeing. “But with unemployment, we just don’t see that happening.” And men are more impacted by getting fired, the study found.
Researchers found that the prosperity of British men will decline for more than four years after being fired from a job, according to the data, but they recover back to normal levels of happiness two years after a spouse passes away and four years after a divorce.
So, the next time a friend of yours (or co-worker) loses their job, just know that they’ve often lost their identity, their community, and their sense of purpose. Give them some extra love.
-Chip
P.S. Tomorrow at 1 pm PT, I will be doing an online fireside chat with one of our longest-serving MEA faculty members, Dacher Keltner, founder of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Given that Dacher is one of the leading thinkers on the topic of Awe, I can promise you this will be an enchanting and illuminating conversation. Dacher is also leading an MEA workshop in Baja Dec 16-21 called Cultivating Awe. If you want to register for tomorrow’s free online chat, sign up HERE.
