According to the New Yorker’s What Makes People Feel Upbeat at Work, here’s what a group of researchers found contributes most to workplace positivity:
“The highest performers of all were those in a moderately regulated environment who also felt a high degree of autonomy, as determined by their responses to a single statement: ‘My job permits me to decide on my own how to go about doing the work.’ In other words, people want to feel in control. They want to be afforded respect and to determine on their own how to act; it is this autonomy that helps foster emotional positivity. [Penn State organizational psychologist Alicia] Grandey suggests we are all still a bit like our two-year-old selves: tell a toddler exactly what to do and what not to do, and she balks. Let her figure it out within a certain framework, and she is happy.”
Obviously, this has implications for the workplace. But parents, what would happen if you implemented a similar system to your home “workplace” where your student does academic work and college applications?