Running head: ABUSIVE UBRINGINGS AND JOB SATISFACTION

Abusive Upbringings and Job Satisfaction

Hailey Anne Thomas
Brigham Young University-Idaho

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Abusive Upbringings and Job Satisfaction
Abusive Upbringings
Exposure to family violence, both experiencing and witnessing such behaviors, is
considered a traumatic experience for family members with short-term and long-term
psychological effects (Haj-Yahia & Bargal, 2015). Interparental violence can cause
children to have posttraumatic stress disorder and depression or depression symptoms.
Children suffer from behavioral problems due to interparental violence such as avoidance
and other unhealthy behaviors. Violence in the home also shapes childrens personal
beliefs of others, relationships and themselves (Visser et al., 2015).
Externalizing is related to family functions and how dysfunctional homes increase
the chances of adolescents externalizing. Externalizing is a deteriorating habit that
adolescents develop. This includes drug and alcohol abuse, disruptive behaviors and
strained family relationships. There is a strong and direct relationship between family
relations and disruptive behavior in adolescents (Henderson, Dakof, Schwartz, & Liddle,
2006).
Abusive upbringings affect adolescents as they mature to adulthood, Abusive
and neglectful childhood experiences differ from event-related traumatic experiences in
adulthood in that their psychological impact tends to be more extensive on the still
developing personality. In this way, the psychological impact of abusive and neglectful
experiences in childhood may often be life-long (Davies, 2003, p. 27). Negative coping
strategies are also linked with psychological ill-health which causes depressive symptoms
as well as job dissatisfaction (Stacciarini & Trccoli, 2004).
Job Dissatisfaction

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According to the Conference Board, 52.3% of Americans are unsatisfied with
their jobs, estimating over half of the population (Adams, 2014). Factors contributing to
job dissatisfaction include marital/family stress (Phillips-Miller, Campbell, & Morrison,
2000), job strain (Bellagamba, Gionta, Senergue, Bque, & Lehucher-Michel, 2015),
working conditions (Leach & Westbrook, 2000) and gender self-definition (Anderson &
Levitt, 2015).
(Phillips et al. 2000) found that the combination of work and family demands
cause female workers to have less children than male workers which is caused by
marital/family stress and a coping strategy with females in multiple careers. Although
males and females reported being stressed in their fields by different components there
were no meaningful differences in the measures of work satisfaction or job stress.
(Phillips-Miller, Campbell, & Morrison, 2000).
More than 80% of on-call workers are job strained. Communication problems
with the organization and workers with symptoms of depression impacts job strain
(Bellagamba et al., 2015). Working conditions is a large factor in job dissatisfaction. This
can include roof damage, ventilation issues and old paint (Leach & Westbrook, 2000).
According to (Leach & Westbrook, 2000) a reason why working conditions go left
unfixed is because due to tightening federal budgets there have been an erosion of the
benefits package available to employees as the management and operating subcontractor
struggles to save jobs and preserve mission functions.
Gender self-definition negatively impacts the employee and their work
environment whereas self-acceptance positively influences employees and their work

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environment (Anderson & Levitt, 2015). The more important the counselors femininity
or masculinity is to their perception and definition of themselves as individuals, the less
likely they are to have a strong working alliance with their clients. Gender selfacceptance, on the other hand, has a significantly positive relationship with working
alliance. The more counselors feel that they are living up to their personal beliefs
regarding femininity and masculinity, the better able they are to build strong working
alliances with their clients (Anderson & Levitt, 2015). Occupational health and job
dissatisfaction are significantly associated with psychological ill-health and physical
health (Stacciarini & Trccoli, 2004).
Emotional Stress and Depression Associated with Job Dissatisfaction
Individuals who have experienced high levels of emotional abuse have higher
levels of depression symptoms. Emotional abuse affects independent stressful life events
more than dependent stressful life events (Shapero et al., 2013). Both negative emotional
and behavioral coping are strongly parallel with mentally ill individuals at all job levels
and job satisfaction is negatively correlated with these (Stacciarini & Trccoli, 2004).
Individuals with higher levels of emotional abuse in their pasts experience greater rise of
depressive symptoms when faced with dependent stressful life events (Shapero et al.,
2013). Occupational stress was directly and significantly associated with psychological
ill-health, physical health and significantly, inversely associated with job satisfaction.
Psychological and physical ill-health were relatively strongly correlated (Stacciarini &
Trccoli, 2004, p. 483). There is evidence of correlations between occupational stress,
psychological illnesses and job satisfaction (Stacciarini & Trccoli, 2004).
The literature above slightly touches on the relationship between abusive

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upbringings and how it relates to job dissatisfaction however with my study I want to
focus more on the causality of the two factors. The purpose of this study is to further
improve employee satisfaction, happiness and productivity. I hypothesize that individuals
raised in abusive homes, rather than non-abusive, will exhibit more job dissatisfaction.
Methods
Sample
A convenience sample will be used to recruit participants for this study. A total of
400 participants will be randomly selected, 50% being male and 50% being female fulltime faculty and staff members at Brigham Young University-Idaho located in Rexburg,
Idaho. Participants will be recruited through email sent to their work emails. Participants
ages will range from 30-65 years of age. According to the United States Census (2015)
93.5% of Idahos population is Caucasian and due to this the majority of participants will
conceivably be Caucasian. Participants will all be LDS due to Brigham Young
University-Idaho being a private and religious institution with 99.75% of students being
LDS (Academic Office, 2015).
Measures
The independent variable for this study is individuals being raised in abusive
homes and the dependent variable is job satisfaction. A self-created questionnaire will be
used for this study. This questionnaire will be asking participants a variety of questions
regarding demographics (including current job position), satisfaction at work, current
home and family life and whether participants have ever been physically or mentally
abused in their lifetimes (see Appendix 1.1). The independent variable and dependent
variable will be measured through this questionnaire through specific questions about

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past abuse and current job satisfaction. To ensure ethical research, throughout the survey
where abuse is mentioned we will include a link to Better Help. A website that will match
the individual to a professional counselor to receive help (see references for website).
This will help the participants who might be triggered by answering the survey questions
and have flashbacks to their traumatic experience(s). This website will give them
immediate help and counseling by matching them with a professional counselor. The goal
of this questionnaire is to determine if abusive upbringings do negatively affect job
satisfaction and if so then the hypothesis will be proven correct.
Procedure
Participants will be randomly selected through a random sample. A self-created
questionnaire (see Appendix 1.1) will be distributed to participants to complete. All
participants will be informed of the survey and sign a written consent form. Participants
are informed that they are not required to answer every question. Participants will receive
the questionaries are work and may complete the questionnaires in their own homes for
privacy purposes. The questionnaires will be brief to ensure completion. Participants will
be informed that they may take the questionnaires home for a more private setting.
Participants will sign a consent form and be informed of the studys motives. Participants
will be given one and a half weeks to complete the questionnaires and will inform them
of the date to bring the questionnaires back and will send email reminders to them to
remember. We will then thank them for their time; provide them with lunch and analyze
the results.
Results
This study will use a nonexperimental quantitative research design and a quasi

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experiment between-subjects design. I expect to find that the participants will have job
dissatisfaction when raised in abusive homes as oppose to non-abusive homes. The
independent variable will be individuals being raised in abusive homes and the primary
outcome will be job satisfaction. This study design is most appropriate because one group
is being questioned about their previous experiences and current job satisfaction attitude
and this questionnaire and environment of the participants will not be manipulated by
researchers because the participants will only know their personal background and job
satisfaction. The data will be analyzed in SPSS using a two-independent sample t-test.
See Appendix 1.2 for examples of how this analysis would be conducted with dummy
data.
Discussion
I hypothesize that individuals raised in abusive homes, rather than non-abusive,
will exhibit more job dissatisfaction. If my results do show that individuals who have
been raised in abusive homes exhibit more job dissatisfaction then this shows that abuse
affects the individual in the workforce and their personal confidence at work. These
results suggest that abusive upbringings affect the individual in later years and affects
jobs. According to Stacciarini & Trccoli (2004) job dissatisfaction does link to
psychological ill-health and physical health. They were also able to learn that negative
coping styles also play a role in psychological ill-health and job dissatisfaction. This
shows that treatment for dissatisfaction at work due to abusive upbringings is to get
psychological help through professional therapy and other treatments to properly learn
how to cope with the stresses of being raised in an abusive home.
There are limitations to this study including restriction of range and outliers. With

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restriction of range it is difficult sampling only one group of participants, BYU-Idaho
professors, which restricts our range of studying a larger population or a more diverse
sample. Outliers are prone to happen with questionnaires and it is expected that a few will
be present once this study has been conducted. Outliers alter the results and sometimes
make it difficult to analyze. Another limitation with this study is that it lacks control and
the manipulation that is necessary to demonstrate a cause and effect efficiently.
The strengths of this survey are that the participants can take it in privacy,
whether in their own home or office. Especially while talking about past abusive
households this comes as a real benefit. Another strength is that with questionnaires
participants can be more honest because it is anonymous and no one is observing them as
they take it. This also allows for minimal pressure to get the study right or participant
bias, which can be a limitation in, studies not using a questionnaire. Comparison can be
easily analyzed with this study because we are able to distinctly separate those who have
been abused and those who have not been abused making this a strength in our study
because there is a definite difference in these two categories.
Further research could assist in better comprehension if professional counseling
significantly helps individuals with occupational stress and self-confidence. Further
research could also answer the question on whether or not current abuse also affects the
individuals job satisfaction. Further research with a more diverse sample could also
increase credibility in the study and perhaps may have a more feasible outcome, which
would decrease some limitations. This study could significantly assist professional
counselors in working with individuals who are feeling unsatisfied at work to find a root
cause to the issue knowing that it could be linked to a past abuse along with other causes.

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References
Adams, S. (2015). Forbes magazine most Americans are unhappy at work. Retrieved
from http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/06/20/most-americans-areunhappy-at-work/, retrieved October 22, 2015.
Anderson, R.S., & Levitt, D.H. (2015). Gender self-confidence and social influence:
Impact on working alliance. The American Counseling Association, 93, 280-288.
doi: 10.1002/jcad.12026.
Bellagamba, G., Gionta, G., Senergue, J., Bque, C., & Lehucher-Michel, M. (2015).
Organizational factors impacting job strain and mental quality of life in
emergency and critical care units. International Journal of Occupational
Medicine and Environmental Health, 28(2), 357-367. Retrieved from
http://ijomeh.eu
BetterHelp: Online therapy and counseling. https://www.betterhelp.com/start/
Davies, S. (2003). The late-life psychological effects of childhood abuse. Current
Medical Literature: Psychiatry, 14(2), 27-31. Retrieved from
http://www.remedicajournals.com/CML-Psychiatry/Default.aspx
Endicott, J., Nee, J., Harrison W., & Blumenthal, R. (1993). Quality of life enjoyment and
satisfaction questionnaire: A new measure. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 29(2),
321-326. Retrieved from http://medworksmedia.com
Haj-Yahia, M.M., & Bargal, D. (2015). Exposure to family violence, perceived
psychological adjustment of parents, and the development of post-traumatic stress

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symptoms among palestinian university students. Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, 30(16), 2928-2958. doi: 10.1177/08862605.
Henderson, C.E., Dakof, G.A., Schwartz, S.J, & Liddle, H.A. (2006). Family functioning,
self-concept, and severity of adolescent externalizing problems. Journal of Child
and Family Studies, 15, 721-731. doi: 10.1007/s10826-006-9045-x.
Leach, F.J., & Westbrook, J.D. (2000). Motivation and job satisfaction in one government
research and development environment. Engineering and Management Journal,
12(4), 3-8. doi: 10.1080/10429247.2000.11415086
Phillips-Miller, D., Campbell, N.J., & Morrison, C. (2000). Work and family:
Satisfaction, stress, and spousal support. Journal of Employment Counseling, 37,
16-30. Retrieved from http://www.employmentcounseling.org/journal-ofemployment-counseling.html, retrieved October 1, 2015
Religious affiliation of BYU-Idaho students. (2015). Brigham Young University-Idaho
Academic Office. Retrieved from http://www2.byui.edu/ir/stats/religion.htm,
retrieved November 19, 2015.
Shapero, B.G., Black, S.K., Liu R.T., Klugman, J., Bender, R.E., Abramson, L.Y., &
Alloy, L.B. (2013). Stressful life events and depression symptoms: The
effect of childhood emotional abuse on stress reactivity. Journal of
Clinical Psychology, 70(3), 209-223. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22011.
Stacciarini, J.M.R., & Trccoli, T. (2004). Occupational stress and constructive thinking:
Health and job satisfaction. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 46(5), 480-487.
Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2648,
retrieved October 28, 2015

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United States Census Bureau. (2015). Idaho. Retrieved from
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/16000.html, retrieved on November 19,
2015.
Visser, M.M., Telman, M.D., De Schipper, J.C., Lamers-Winkelman, F., Schuengel, C., &
Finkenauer, C. (2015). The effects of parental components in a trauma-focused
cognitive behavioral based therapy for children exposed to interparental violence:
study protocol for the randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry, 15(131), 118. doi: 10.1186/s12888-015-0533-7

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Appendix 1.1
1. Are you taking this survey at home or at work?
Home Work Other:_________
2. In the past have you ever been verbally abused as a child or young adult?
Yes
No
3. In the past have you ever been physically abused as a child or young adult?
Yes
No
4. If yes to one or both of the previous questions, have you ever received
professional psychological therapy for this abuse?
Yes
No
5. If you have been verbally or physically abused in the past, have you been able to
forgive the individual(s)?
Yes
No
Not applicable
6. Do you feel underappreciated at your current job?
Yes
No
Sometimes
7. Overall, what is your current job satisfaction? 1 being completely unsatisfied and
3 being completely satisfied.
1---2---3
8. Overall, what is your current happiness level with your current job? 1 being
extremely unhappy and 3 being extremely happy.
1---2---3
9. On a regular basis, do you feel like your boss does not take notice of your work?
Yes
No
Sometimes
10. Do you suffer from a mental illness that alters your mood?
Yes
No
Other:___________
11. Have you been clinically diagnosed with a mental illness?
Yes
No

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Appendix 1.2
Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3