Negative-minded employees likelier to be less productive

A new study has examined that negativity at workplace can directly affect the productivity of an individual.

The study conducted at Michigan State University showed that negative-minded workers are more likely to become mentally fatigued and defensive and experience a drop-off in production.

Russell Johnson, a management professor who co-authored the study with doctoral student Szu-Han Lin, said that the moral of this story was not that they wanted people to stop raising concerns within the company, because that could be extremely beneficial but constantly focusing on the negative could have a detrimental effect on the individual.

Johnson added that the irony of that was that when people were mentally fatigued they were less likely to point out problems anymore and in addition, their own work performance suffers, they were less likely to be cooperative and helpful, and they even exhibit deviant behaviors such as being verbally abusive and stealing from the employer.

The study is published online in the Journal of Applied Psychology.