Worrying about office politics may make you a target: study

A study by the University of British Columbia researchers claim that people who worry about workplace rejection or sabotage can end up bringing it upon themselves.

The UBC Sauder School of Business study reveals that anxiety about negative gossip at workplace or being snubbed leads people to seek out information to confirm their fears, ultimately annoying colleague and increasing the likelihood they will be rejected or subverted.

"It may be best to ignore impulses that tell you that you're the victim of office politics," lead author and Sauder Professor Karl Aquino said.

The study was recently published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

 

It is natural for people to know what others in their organization think about them, especially when social acceptance is equated with power and financial compensation, the study says.

"However, our research shows employees should do their best to keep their interactions positive and ignore the negative. As the expression goes, kill them with kindness," Aquino said.

In one of the study