When you have a partner, you inevitably share almost everything together – from the couch to the bed, and sometimes, even a toothbrush. But, give it a thought: how well do you really know this person?
According to research, less than a third of people have no idea how their partners make a living. On the other hand, 38 percent of people know their girlfriend/boyfriend’s favorite band and around 40 percent also know the password to their other half’s cell phone.
In a CWJobs survey of 2,000 workers in the United Kingdom wherein 500 were in the tech industry, three quarters believe their partners wouldn’t be able to explain properly what they do for a living. Meanwhile, 71 percent of the British people said they had no choice but to dumb down their jobs when they try to talk about it to their peers, family, and even lovers.
This isn’t totally shocking because out of five people, two said close friends or family tend to switch off when they talked about their jobs. This is frustrating for about 25 percent of the employees, while 22 percent felt annoyed, and 17 percent revealed it made them feel sad.
Forty-nine percent of those working in the property sector felt bad because of the lack of interest from their friends and family when they opened up about how they make a living, while it is 56 percent for tech and IT employees, and both 45 percent for financial services and the engineering field.
About 31 percent of UK workers hated their family and friends’ perception that the money they earn is much more important than their careers. This is why it’s not surprising to know that three out of five of them feared to explain their jobs.
Need to Be Connected
However, this shouldn’t be the case. University of London lecturer Julia Yates said that sharing details about your job to the people around you is valuable not just for your relationship with other people but also for your mental health.
As per the CWJobs research, of those who felt they could talk about their jobs to other people who are not from their office, 32 percent believed they benefitted from a fresh point of view. Additionally, 30 percent admitted that speaking about what they do helped them fix a problem in the workplace and 25 percent, meanwhile, said that it promoted good mental health.
According to the self-determination theory, one of the psychological needs of a human is to feel connected with the people around us. The other two essential factors are feeling competent and partially in control.
