Psychological survey reveals enduring business optimism despite pessimistic predictions of the credit crunch crisis
01/07/2008
Optimism and confidence among the UK business professionals remains high despite the credit crunch, according to research conducted by Brighton-based Business Psychologists Criterion Partnership Ltd.
The survey of 776 UK business professionals revealed that more than two thirds (68%) of UK professionals feel optimistic about the short-term future of their business.
When describing their personal perceptions of the prospects for their businesses, the majority of respondents (68%) felt optimistic about the short-term economic future of their business (within the next 12 months); and an even greater number (76%) reported optimism about the medium to long-term future (between 1-5 years).
In addition, the majority of respondents reported that there had been no effect on recruitment, training and employee-welfare budgets as a result of the credit crunch.
Alan Redman, Director of Criterion Partnership Ltd, comments: “Media commentary regarding the economy and the credit crunch has been generally pessimistic; describing the outlook for businesses and those who work for them in bleak terms. As business psychologists, we conducted this research to determine the extent to which this widespread pessimistic reporting was reflecting or affecting the mood among real business people”.
“We found that the vast majority of business people feel optimistic about the short, medium and long-term prospects of their businesses. Despite regular, negative news concerning the credit crunch and its effects, the prevailing mood among the business people surveyed was characterised by resilience, confidence and optimism”.
“Successful businesses are those which capitalise on the optimism and resilience of their staff in the face of economic adversity”.
These survey results suggest a disconnect between current economic conditions, media predictions and the psychological mindset among people working in business.
