The media and publishing industry is in the worst emotional shape of all sectors when it comes to how employees’ are affected by work, according to the 2011 Global Mindset Index conducted by global consultancy firm, rogenSi.

A key overall finding of the survey was that 92 percent of workers feel their emotions are controlled more by results and achievements than by work ethic and self-belief.

The Index investigated the impact the current economic climate is having on workers’ mental strength, leadership and social support, and was developed from a survey of 1071 employees across all industry sectors and organisational levels, with participants from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America.

In worst shape, by far, was the media and publishing industry, with a ‘mindset score’ of 3.14 out of a maximum 8. Given that a score of 4.5 is neutral, this means media and publishing workers feel their emotions are predominantly controlled by the results they achieve. The authors suggest that in Australia this could be influenced by the rise of online advertising and e-commerce.

The global economic uncertainty of the last several years is continuing to have an effect on workers, says Dr Clark Perry, director of rogenSi: “During the three years we’ve been conducting the Index, we’ve seen the continued downward slide of people’s emotions being controlled by external factors resulting in unstable employee motivation.”

For the first time, the 2011 survey asked employees how inspirational they found their leaders, with only 14 percent responding in the affirmative.

Worryingly, a large number of workers show symptoms of depression, with almost a quarter indicating they feel five or more of the key depressive adjectives outlined by the World Health Organisation as common psychological indicators.