When University of Minnesota professors Connie Wanberg and Michelle Duffy set out to study the effects of divorce on work, they knew people would describe the negative repercussions, from a lack of concentration to poorer job performance.
And they were right.
After chasing leads from divorce records, online forums and divorce attorneys, the researchers surveyed more than 500 people who were married or cohabiting, going through a divorce, or had divorced within five years. About 44% of divorcing individuals said the event was adversely affecting jobs.
What Wanberg and Duffy didn't expect was the volume of people who expressed a renewed sense of career motivation and opportunity for change. About 40% of people navigating divorce reported that the experience had a positive impact on their work.
"It made sense," said Wanberg, the study's lead author, who was initially surprised because she struggled to focus on work after her own divorce. "I just hadn't thought about it that way because it wasn't my experience."
Her team's findings were published recently in the scientific journal Personnel Psychology, bringing new light to a topic that is often only whispered about in the workplace. A key takeaway: Don't make assumptions about how divorce is psychologically affecting a colleague. The experience is anything but universal.
Silver linings reported by some divorcees included increased energy to spend on their careers or to pursue higher education. Parents who now shared custody of their kids now had more time. Others used work as an escape and a distraction from the stress of divorcing. Some even said the breakup liberated them from their spouses' expectations and allowed them to lean into their true selves.
And others, especially those who were in tumultuous marriages, finally felt free.