University of Florida News

Rudeness video

WITNESSING RUDE BEHAVIOR AT WORK MAY DO MORE THAN OFFEND… IT CAN NEGATIVELY AFFECT HOW YOU THINK AND ACT.

Amir Erez/UF Researcher: “People who witnessed rude behavior from supervisors or even from peers, they function less well cognitively. They think less well, and they are less helpful and they actually become more hostile.”

IN THIS UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA STUDY… RESEARCHERS ARRANGED FOR A TEST GROUP TO PERFORM SIMPLE TASKS LIKE LISTING THE USES FOR A BRICK. THEY PERFORMED MUCH WORSE ON THOSE TASKS WHEN SEEING
SOMEONE TREATED RUDELY THAN THOSE WHO DIDN’T.

Amir Erez/UF Researcher: People came up w/less uses for a brick in their rude condition, they also came up with less creative solutions. And not only that, they came up with more hostile solutions. For example, hitting someone over the head, breaking a window, smashing the experimenter’s face.”

RESULTS SHOW THOSE WHO OBSERVED RUDE BEHAVIOR ALSO PERFORMED WORSE ON MORE CREATIVE TASKS. EXPERTS SAY PEOPLE SEEM TO FOCUS TOO MUCH ON THE RUDE BEHAVIOR, PREVENTING THEM FROM THINKING CLEARLY. AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, I’M DAN LARKIN.

Note: Downloadable videos are encoded at 720x486 using the Photo-JPEG codec. Audio is encoded at 44.1 kHz and unmixed.