“It’s Just Not Fair!”

Does unfairness cause a heart attack? UK researchers used the British Civil Service (government bureaucrats) to study this question. A study reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health describes results obtained from 5,700 men and 2,500 women employed Civil Service departments in London . At baseline they had full examinations that included assessment of unfairness at work and other psychosocial work characteristics, along with cardiovascular risk factor evaluation. Follow-up averaged 11 years, during which 528 fatal and non-fatal heart attacks, angina, and cardiac deaths (together called ‘coronary events’) were reported.

The main findings: low employment grade was strongly associated with unfairness; those reporting higher levels of unfairness were more likely to have a ‘coronary event’; and unfairness was also linked with poor physical and mental functioning. Workers reporting a lot of unfairness were more likely to have high blood pressure, and be smokers, obese, sedentary, and non-drinkers.

The critical question for determining unfairness was: “I often have the feeling that I am being treated unfairly”, with replies self-scored from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). What’s your unfairness score? (The authors of the study point out that British civil servants may not be representative of society as a whole.)