There is a term in psychology that sums up a phenomenon occurring in today’s conferencing industry: “stress bragging.”
Recent University of Georgia research published in the journal Personnel Psychology suggests that talking about work-related stress may actually cause stress to the recipient. “The contagious effects of bragging about stress are as true for stress braggarts as they are for others,” said lead author Jessica Rodell, Ph.D., William Harry Wilson Distinguished Chair Professor at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
“The more actively we focus on stress, the more subtly we signal that it is a valuable quality—that it signals something valuable (e.g., that employees matter and can be trusted to complete difficult tasks),” she explain. “That may make sense to some extent. But the unintended consequence is that we inadvertently glorify the experience of stress.
Is this what is happening in the meetings industry, with the constant stream of articles, posts, podcasts, and “bragging” at industry events about how meeting planning is one of the most stressful jobs?
What’s going on?
There’s no shortage of lists claiming meeting planning is stressful.
For example, this article calls event planning the third most stressful job in the world. It cites World Scholarship Bank, an organization that offers international scholarships. The organization’s website is down and there are no 2024 posts on its social media sites.
Another example comes from job search site Zippia, which Ranked sixth in event planning Also among the seven most stressful jobs are paramedics, correctional officers and emergency room nurses.
Additionally, a 2023 IBTM report released jointly with Culture Creators, an agency “employed by brands seeking to create meaningful connections with their audiences,” ranks the profession as the third most stressful, behind military service and Home Health Aide.
But are these claims valid?
Dr. Josh Briley, a registered clinical psychologist and fellow at the American Institute of Stress, says a big problem is The list itself. “Lists that rank jobs according to stress levels are best viewed as ‘infotainment,'” he says. “They may appear to be educational, but due to the lack of rigorous ranking criteria, the apparent bias of the individuals behind the lists, and a host of other factors, they should not be viewed as anything other than moderately informative and entertaining. These rankings also don’t seem to have a consistent definition of stress, and they’re highly subjective at best and misleading title bait at worst.
Ask the operating room nurse: Dylan Parker-Roach, who works at Faulkner Hospital in Boston and previously worked as an emergency room physician for two years. “On the face of it, it’s hard to see that meeting planners are the most stressed out. That seems disingenuous,” he said. “The worst day for an event planner looks a lot different than the worst day for a healthcare provider. Medical professionals have more objective goals than subjective goals, such as ensuring that patients are discharged from hospital healthy and alive.
Mental health awareness continues to grow
The good news is that all this talk about stress has inspired initiatives that focus on the mental health and well-being of participants and planners alike. Organizers created quiet rooms at meetings, added wellness activities, and allowed more free time amid busy agendas. Planners freely discuss mental health issues and build a support network for colleagues experiencing the effects of workplace stress.
Event Minds Matter has more than 3,000 followers on LinkedIn. Its goal is to “build brave spaces to expand the industry’s conversation about emotional health and well-being.” Its founder, Janice Cardinale, is on a mission to make psychological safety training mandatory.
But as far as stress bragging goes, many believe it’s time to put a stop to the phenomenon. “Our industry can and must do better…period,” said Aaron Kaufman, president of experience design firm Fifth Element Group. “It’s a job and a role with many wonderful gifts. .perpetuating and promoting bullshit just to get clicks for publications is a travesty we are blessed to have the opportunity to do what we do!
