People who have a good peer support system at work may live longer than those who don't.
This effect of peer social support was most pronounced amongst those aged between 38 and 43 years. Yet, similar support from workers' supervisors had no effect on mortality, the researchers found.
Besides, men who felt like they had control and authority to make decisions at work also experienced this "protective effect", according to the study reported in the journal Health Psychology.
Researchers rated peer social support as high if participants reported that their co-workers were helpful in solving problems and that they were friendly.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University looked at the medical records of 820 adults who were followed for 20 years -- from 1988 to 2008.
These workers came from some of Israel's largest firms in finance, insurance, public utilities, health care and manufacturing, according to a Tel Aviv statement.
They reported working on average 8.8 hours a day. One-third of them were women; 80 per cent were married with children; and 45 per cent had at least 12 years of formal education.
Asked why workplace control was positive for men but not women, lead researcher Arie Shirom said that for employees in blue-collar type of jobs, high levels of control were found in jobs typically held by men, rather than jobs typically held by women.
