Anxiety and stress can spread around the workplace in the same way a cold can |
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.) (Agencies) |
坐在你身旁的同事是否總是不停地埋怨工作伙伴、抱怨工作量太大或批評(píng)政治? 在她為老板、男友或是無聊的銀行事務(wù)發(fā)愁時(shí),你是否有耐心地傾聽呢? 如果是這樣,那么你可不只在聽別人講個(gè)不休。最新研究表明,事實(shí)上我們會(huì)“傳染上”他人的壓力。 夏威夷大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家伊萊恩?哈特菲爾德教授發(fā)現(xiàn),壓力就像感冒一樣可以傳染,“被動(dòng)”或二手的壓力和焦慮情緒可以迅速在工作場(chǎng)所迅速蔓延。 哈特菲爾德說:“人們似乎能以驚人的速度模仿他人的面部表情、聲音和姿勢(shì)?!?/p> “因此,他們能在很大程度上感知他人的情感生活。” 哈特菲爾德教授的研究發(fā)現(xiàn),我們其實(shí)都是“海綿”,吸收周邊人散發(fā)的感染性情緒。 在我們吸收他人的壓力時(shí),我們自己也開始感受到壓力,并會(huì)關(guān)注那些可能正困擾我們的問題。 一方面,我們吸收朋友或同事的壓力是為了和他們打成一片,但另一方面也是因?yàn)槌掷m(xù)灌進(jìn)我們耳朵中的不滿的聲音就像鎮(zhèn)靜劑一樣,讓我們的腦子開始產(chǎn)生消極的想法。 哈特菲爾德教授發(fā)現(xiàn),我們不僅會(huì)接受他人消極的思維模式,我們還會(huì)下意識(shí)地采納他們壓力下的身體語言,導(dǎo)致我們?cè)谂c他們交談時(shí)弓起背、皺起眉。 哈特菲爾德教授說:“在談話中,人們會(huì)自動(dòng)地不斷模仿他人的面部表情、聲音、姿勢(shì)、動(dòng)作和輔助行為,并與之同步。 “女性遭遇‘二手壓力’的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)更大,因?yàn)樗齻兏軐?duì)他人的感受產(chǎn)生共鳴。” 相關(guān)閱讀 壓力大怎么辦?發(fā)泄傾訴不如微笑應(yīng)對(duì) (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)英語點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯: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(和某人談個(gè)不休,數(shù)落不是) stunning: 令人震驚的 effectively: 實(shí)際上 identify with: 和……打成一片 depressant: 鎮(zhèn)靜劑 stressed out: 緊張的,感到有壓力的 synchronise: 使同步 instrumental: 輔助的 |