rudeness

Careful – Rudeness Is Catching!

By in Communication, Language, Learning 1 Comment Tags: ,

Avoiding_Rudeness2

I’m sure we’ve all experienced rude behavior in the workplace. Even in the most civil environments, you encounter it. People might make sarcastic comments, snarky remarks, pointedly ignore a coworker, or roll their eyes. It’s not uncommon – approximately 98% of employees say that they’ve been the target of rude behavior at work.

It can certainly be hurtful when it happens. But here’s what’s really disturbing – it turns out that it can be catching. New research suggests that rudeness is actually contagious. It passes from one person to the next, often without people even realizing it.

In a recent study, researchers asked people to pair up and practice their negotiation skills. Then they assigned them to different partners, and asked them to continue negotiating. Here’s what they found:

  • People who initially worked with someone polite tended to behave politely when paired with a new person.
  • People who initially worked with someone rude were likely to behave in a rude manner when paired with a new person. They passed the rudeness along, just like the common cold.
  • The passage of time didn’t even seem to make a difference. When people initially negotiated with a rude person and then waited a week before negotiating with a new person, they were still more likely to behave rudely.

Even just witnessing rudeness tended to make people more likely to behave in a rude manner. That’s how contagious it appears to be.

Rude behavior can have a detrimental effect on people. It can be damaging to people’s performance, productivity, and creativity. So what can you do to protect yourself and others from this damaging contagion? The researchers who conducted the study offer simple advice… be nice.

 

Foulk, T. (2015, July 28). Rudeness is contagious. Gizmodo. Retrieved from http://gizmodo.com/rudeness-is-contagious-1720535575

 

Reflections on Rudeness

By in Communication, University Culture No Comments Tags: , ,

Rude

You might assume that people who work for universities are more civil and polite than people working in the for-profit world. During my career of almost 40 years, I have spent about two thirds of that time working for universities and the rest in the for-profit world. Sadly, I think that people in the for-profit world tend to be more polite than people who work for universities. I must admit that I have no data to back up that assertion — it is simply based on my observation.

It makes me wonder why that could be, and I have been pondering the question rather a lot frequently because I have had to deal with a rather unusual level of rudeness at work recently.

Perhaps the first reason is passion. People don’t usually work for universities for the money. They can usually earn more elsewhere, but they choose the university setting because they are passionate in their zeal to change the world. This can cause disagreements to become personal and emotional rather quickly.

Second, universities tend to be a little too forgiving. There are rarely such severe consequences for bad behavior as in the for-profit world. It often amazes me how universities tolerate persistent bad behavior.

Third, many people in universities believe that the right to be rude is part of the right to free speech. If you question the way people talk to each other, that is often viewed as trespassing on their right to express themselves freely.

Finally, rudeness is expensive. It lowers productivity — and that lowers profits. When an institution is not quite as mindful of the bottom line, nobody cares as much about what rudeness costs.

Why are people rude at all? It can create havoc, it reduces productivity, and people become unhappy!

Fortunately, Johns Hopkins University is changing in this respect. We are moving towards a standardized performance management system; equity, civility, and respect are part of our core values; and with budgets getting tighter, there is going to be less tolerance for ugly behavior. As the song goes, things are getting better all the time!

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