13 Mar Have you heard about “psychological safety”? And do you know how it could apply to you?
Psychological safety is, in my humble opinion, one of THE MOST IMPORTANT constructs in contemporary psychology. It relates to happiness, happiness at work, health, wellbeing and more.
But (again, in my opinion) it’s massively under-utilised!
Let’s take a step back …
Although, like many terms in many domains, it’s defined differently by different people, one of the simplest ways to understand psychological safety is as the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.
It’s about feeling safe whilst being vulnerable and authentic.
But it’s almost exclusively used within organisational contexts. Psychological safety is, quite rightly, seen as being crucial for happiness at work and more broadly, positive culture. All of which is great (although there’s definitely MUCH room for improvement in MANY / MOST workplaces … but that’s for another post).
Why don’t we use it in other contexts?
Surely feeling safe that one can speak up and share concerns isn’t just something that’s relevant in a work context? Surely it’s important too in social settings (with friends), families and intimate relationships, and undoubtedly within couples (married or otherwise).
In fact, we know from the research that this IS important. But for some reason this particular construct doesn’t seem to be referred to or highlighted.
But that’s what I want to do today!
More so, I want to encourage you to think about your relationships, ALL your relationships (personal and professional more) and to ask yourself … do you feel safe expressing concerns or admitting to problems within these contexts? Do you believe your partner or colleague or friend feels safe speaking up or asking difficult questions to you?
If no, what do you need to do to make this happen? Because there’s no doubt relationships are better when psychological safety is present and when relationships are better, so too is happiness and wellbeing!
Note: for some ideas, check out THIS ARTICLE which as noted above, is mostly focused on the workplace BUT which I believe will help you think about what you could possibly do in other areas of your life.