Bad behavior at work can have very real consequences. People who experience workplace rudeness, for example, report lower engagement , suffer more mental and physical health problems, and are more likely to burn out and quit their jobs. Some scholars have noted that, when information about misbehavior surfaces, savvy leaders know better than to blame the messenger.
Unfortunately, our research paints a picture that is much bleaker. We set out to investigate how people in positions of power view victims and perpetrators of workplace misbehavior. We first studied an organization that operates a chain of casual dining restaurants. We gave each employee a list of the names of every other employee who worked in their restaurant, and asked them to report who they were rude to and who was rude to them.
We then asked managers to evaluate the behavior of each employee. Notably, those employees who reported being victims of rudeness were largely perceived by their managers as perpetrators of rude behavior. To determine whether our findings applied outside of this organization, we enlisted the help of our undergraduate students. We asked them to recruit working adults from among their friends and family so that we could survey employees and managers from a wide variety of industries, organizations, and jobs.
We anonymized and tracked leader-follower pairs from an assortment of professions, including office workers, mechanics, dental hygienists, plumbers, nurses, and many others. Sure enough, we found the same results. These two studies were telling, but they had an important limitation: Because employees who experience rudeness may also be rude themselves, as our earlier research has shown, bosses who blame victims might actually be evaluating these employees accurately.
Want more tips like these? Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Share this —. Follow better. By Sarah DiGiulio. Are You the Office Jerk? Let the niceness be contagious instead of rudeness. When a comment comes out from this type of person, chances are they are not intentionally trying to be mean to you.
In that case, you can give them the benefit of the doubt and maybe drop it. Respond to the situation, not the person. The last thing you want to do is calling someone out by shaming, scolding, or using their insecurities against them. You need to look after yourself. That one person who everyone finds ugly and unwelcomed! Before using the site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Click to opt-out of Google Analytics tracking.
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. Click here to read more. When I became depressed, though, my temper shortened and I felt far more irritable. You cannot control the actions and behaviors of others, only your personal reactions to them. See more Posts. Web More Posts. See a typo or inaccuracy? Please contact us so we can fix it!
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