Surprising new research suggests it can actually be good to feel bad at work, and that feeling good in the workplace can lead to negative outcomes。

The study of emotions in the workplace, edited by University of Liverpool researchers Drs. Dirk Lindebaum and Peter Jordan, is the topic of a Special Issue of the journal Human Relations。

They found that the commonly-held assumption that positivity in the workplace produces positive outcomes, while negative emotions lead to negative outcomes, may be in need for reconsideration. This is partly due to this assumption failing to take into account the differences in work contexts which effect outcomes。

For instance, anger does not always lead to negative outcomes and can be used as a force for good through acting upon injustices. In some cases, anger can be considered a force for good if motivated by perceived violations of moral standards。

An employee, for example, could express anger constructively after a manager has treated a fellow worker unfairly。

In such cases, anger can be useful to prevent these acts of injustice from repeating themselves in the future。

Likewise, being too positive in the workplace, rather than resulting in greater well-being and greater productivity, can lead to complacency and superficiality。

新研究的驚人發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，實(shí)際上工作時(shí)的消極情緒能帶來積極效果，而積極的情緒卻可能導(dǎo)致消極結(jié)果。

由英國(guó)利物浦大學(xué)研究人員德克·林登鮑姆(Dirk Lindebaum)博士和彼得·喬丹(Peter Jordan)博士編撰的關(guān)于工作中情緒的研究是《人類關(guān)系》雜志的一期特刊話題。

他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們普遍認(rèn)為工作中的積極情緒會(huì)產(chǎn)生積極結(jié)果，而消極情緒會(huì)導(dǎo)致消極結(jié)果，這種觀點(diǎn)有待重新思考。其原因是這一觀點(diǎn)沒有充分考慮到工作環(huán)境中差異對(duì)結(jié)果產(chǎn)生的影響。

例如，憤怒并不總是帶來消極結(jié)果，它還可以作為對(duì)待不公平現(xiàn)象的正義力量。在某些情況下，若因他人違反道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)而激發(fā)的憤怒，會(huì)被認(rèn)為是正義力量。

又如，經(jīng)理以不公平的方式對(duì)待同事后，員工可以建設(shè)性地表達(dá)自己的憤怒。

在這種情況下，憤怒可以有效阻止此類不公平現(xiàn)象在未來重演。

同樣，在工作中過于積極非但不能帶來更好的工作表現(xiàn)及更高的效率，反而會(huì)導(dǎo)致自滿和淺薄。One article within the issue also finds that, within team situations, negativity can have a good affect, leading to less consensus and therefore greater discussion amongst workers which enhances team effectiveness。

An interesting contradiction is identified in another study of the special issue. Here, people derive satisfaction from doing “good” in the context of helplines by providing support to people in times of emotional distress。

However, they are negatively affected by their line of work due to people shunning them in social situations (e.g., since they might catch the emotional taint they attribute to the profession of the helpline workers)。

Lindebaum said, “The findings of the studies published in this Special Issue challenge the widely held assumption that in the workplace positive emotions generate or engender a positive outcome, and vice versa。

“This Special Issue adds to our knowledge and understanding of how the positive and negative dynamics affect the working environment and has practical application and relevance in the workplace。”

特刊中的一篇文章也發(fā)現(xiàn)，在團(tuán)隊(duì)協(xié)作中，消極情緒會(huì)產(chǎn)生良好的影響，共識(shí)較少的情況會(huì)使員工進(jìn)行更為深入的探討，從而提高團(tuán)隊(duì)的工作效率。

特刊中另一項(xiàng)研究指出了一個(gè)有趣的矛盾點(diǎn)。在這項(xiàng)研究中，通過熱線服務(wù)電話為情緒低落者提供幫助的人，會(huì)因做“好事”獲得滿足感。

然而，由于人們?cè)谏缃粓?chǎng)合的回避，又使他們對(duì)這項(xiàng)工作產(chǎn)生消極情緒(例如，他們可能把捕捉情感缺陷歸因于接線員這個(gè)職業(yè))。

林登鮑姆(Lindebaum)說：“發(fā)表在特刊的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)挑戰(zhàn)了人們的普遍觀念，即在工作中積極情緒會(huì)產(chǎn)生積極結(jié)果，反之亦然。”

“通過這期特刊，我們更多地了解和認(rèn)識(shí)了積極和消極動(dòng)態(tài)如何影響工作氛圍，同時(shí)對(duì)人們工作有著實(shí)際應(yīng)用和關(guān)聯(lián)。”