Men who swallow their anger over unfair treatment at work could be harming their hearts.
Covert coping with unfair treatment at work - when an employee does not show the aggressor that s/he feels unfairly treated - has been found to be associated with cardiovascular risk factors.
To examine whether covert coping also predicts incidence of coronary heart disease, researchers studied data on 2,755 working men in Sweden with no history of myocardial infarction at the start of the study in 1992. Data on hospitalisation due to myocardial infarction or death from ischemic heart disease until 2003 was obtained from national registers of Sweden.
A total of 47 participants had myocardial infarction or died from ischemic heart disease during the follow-up of nine years. The researchers also took into account factors like age, socio-economic factors, risk behaviour and job strain.
It was found that men who failed to express their resentment over conflicts with fellow workers or seniors at work were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack as those who vent their anger. Ignoring an ongoing work-related conflict was also associated with a tripled risk of heart attack or death.
The findings suggest that it is not good just to walk away after having a conflict at work or to swallow one's feelings. Nevertheless, the study doesn't advocate being belligerent at work. The findings highlight the importance of sharing your feelings with others.