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警惕办公室“二手压力”:哀怨情绪可传染

Beware the workplace whinger! Passive stress is as contagious as a cold... and women are most at risk

2011-11-10 08:56

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警惕办公室“二手压力”:哀怨情绪可传染

Anxiety and stress can spread around the workplace in the same way a cold can

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Do you sit next to a whingeing workmate who constantly moans about fellow colleagues, workload or politics?

Do you listen patiently while she worries about bosses, boyfriends or boring bank issues?

If you do, you could be suffering more than just a bent ear, as a new study reveals we can actually 'catch' other people's stress.

Professor Elaine Hatfield, a psychologist from the University of Hawaii, discovered that stress can be as contagious as a cold, and that 'passive' or second-hand stress and anxiety can quickly spread around the workplace.

'People seem to be capable of mimicking others' facial, vocal, and postural expressions with stunning rapidity,' Hatfield said.

'As a consequence, they are able to feel themselves into those other emotional lives to a surprising extent.'

Prof. Hatfield's study found that we are effectively sponges, soaking up so-called emotional contagions emitted by those around us.

As we absorb other people's stress, we can begin to feel stressed too - and to focus on issues that might be troubling us.

In part, we take on our friend or colleague's stress in an attempt to identify with them, but also because the constant stream of discontent poured into our ears acts as a depressant, turning our minds to negative thoughts.

And Professor Hatfield found that not only do we take on other people's negative thought patterns, we can also start to subconsciously take on their stressed out body language, causing us to hunch our shoulders and furrow our brows when we talk to them.

'In conversation, people automatically and continuously mimic and synchronise their movements with the facial expressions, voices, postures, movements, and instrumental behaviors of others,' Professor Hatfield says.

'Women are more at risk because they tend to be more in tune to other people's feelings.'

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

坐在你身旁的同事是否总是不停地埋怨工作伙伴、抱怨工作量太大或批评政治?

在她为老板、男友或是无聊的银行事务发愁时,你是否有耐心地倾听呢?

如果是这样,那么你可不只在听别人讲个不休。最新研究表明,事实上我们会“传染上”他人的压力。

夏威夷大学的心理学家伊莱恩•哈特菲尔德教授发现,压力就像感冒一样可以传染,“被动”或二手的压力和焦虑情绪可以迅速在工作场所迅速蔓延。

哈特菲尔德说:“人们似乎能以惊人的速度模仿他人的面部表情、声音和姿势。”

“因此,他们能在很大程度上感知他人的情感生活。”

哈特菲尔德教授的研究发现,我们其实都是“海绵”,吸收周边人散发的感染性情绪。

在我们吸收他人的压力时,我们自己也开始感受到压力,并会关注那些可能正困扰我们的问题。

一方面,我们吸收朋友或同事的压力是为了和他们打成一片,但另一方面也是因为持续灌进我们耳朵中的不满的声音就像镇静剂一样,让我们的脑子开始产生消极的想法。

哈特菲尔德教授发现,我们不仅会接受他人消极的思维模式,我们还会下意识地采纳他们压力下的身体语言,导致我们在与他们交谈时弓起背、皱起眉。

哈特菲尔德教授说:“在谈话中,人们会自动地不断模仿他人的面部表情、声音、姿势、动作和辅助行为,并与之同步。

“女性遭遇‘二手压力’的风险更大,因为她们更能对他人的感受产生共鸣。”

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(中国日报英语点津 陈丹妮 编辑:Julie)

Vocabulary:

whinge: 嘀咕;抱怨不止

bend someone's ear:to talk to someone for a long time, usually about something boring(和某人谈个不休,数落不是)

stunning: 令人震惊的

effectively: 实际上

identify with: 和……打成一片

depressant: 镇静剂

stressed out: 紧张的,感到有压力的

synchronise: 使同步

instrumental: 辅助的

 

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