Downward Facing Dog Pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana)

Taking dogs to work reduces employee stress 帶狗上工有助員工紓解壓力

Dogs are pictured in the hatch back of a car during an event promoting safe travel for pets in cars at the New York International Auto Show in New York last Wednesday.
狗兒們上週三在紐約國際車展的一場寵物乘車安全活動中，坐在一輛斜背式車的後廂內。

Photo: Reuters
照片：路透

Bringing pet dogs to work can reduce stress and make the job more satisfying for other employees, a study suggests.

US researchers found those with access to dogs were less stressed as the day went on than those who had none.

The preliminary study published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management looked at 75 staff workers. The researchers suggested access to dogs boosted morale and reduced stress levels, whether people had access to their own pets or other people’s.

The study was carried out by a team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University who looked at a manufacturing company where people are allowed to bring their pets to work. They compared those who brought in their own pets, with those who had dogs but left them at home, and staff who did not own pets. Over a week, the researchers compared employees’ stress levels, job satisfaction and feelings about support from and commitment to the company.

In the morning, there was no difference between the three groups. But during the course of the work day, stress levels appeared to decline for employees with their dogs present and increased for non-pet owners and dog owners who did not bring their dogs to work.

(Liberty Times)

研究顯示，帶寵物狗上班可降低壓力，且工作表現也讓其他員工更加滿意，美國研究人員發現，可以帶狗上班者的一天過得比不能帶狗的人更沒壓力。

這份初步研究刊登在「國際工作場所衛生管理期刊」，研究觀察七十五名職員。研究人員表示，可接近狗提高士氣，也降低壓力程度，不管是接近自己的狗或是其他人的狗。

這份維吉尼亞聯邦大學研究團隊的研究，觀察一間允許帶寵物上班的製造業公司。團隊比較帶自己的寵物與有狗但是放在家裡的職員，以及沒有寵物的員工。一週後，研究人員比較職員的壓力程度、工作滿意度，以及對公司在支持與承諾方面的感覺。

在上午，三組沒有區別，但一整天工作下來，帶狗的人壓力程度似乎逐漸下降，而沒有寵物或是有狗但沒一起帶來上班的員工壓力程度增加。

（自由時報／翻譯：國際新聞中心）

TODAY’S WORDS 今日單字

1. access n.

接近的機會 (jie1 jin4 de5 ji1 huei4)

例: The tax inspector gained complete access to the company files.

(稅務稽查員取得查閱此公司檔案的全部權限。)

2. commitment n.

承諾 (cheng2 nuo4)

例: I’d like to thank the staff for having shown such commitment.

(我想謝謝職員們如此的奉獻。)

3. during the course of prep. phr.

在...期間 (zai4 … qi2 jian1)

例: During the course of the interview it became clear that he was not suitable for the job.

(面試時明顯看出他不適合這工作。)