Rudely mistaken?
Good manners were once highly prized (and I still do value them). Increasingly, it seems that courtesy is out of fashion. Indeed, the world has changed so much that ASBOs are now seen by those for which it is intended to shame as a badge of honour.
What about those in high profile jobs? For example, many people think that Jeremy Paxman is rude to his interviewees, but (I am told) it makes for good television. He can be quite entertaining, although maybe I wouldn’t be so generous if I was the one on the receiving end.
A recent study by Professor Rhona Flin, from the University of Aberdeen, claims there is a link between making mistakes at work and rudeness, and that even just witnessing rudeness is more likely to cause someone to make mistakes. Writing in the British Medical Journal, Professor Flin said human attention ‘is powerfully driven by emotion’. She described studies in which students who were insulted by a professor on the way to the test performed less well on a series of memory tasks than others who had not been spoken to rudely.
In another study, a student who arrived late was told by the tutor: ‘What is it with you? You arrive late, you are irresponsible; look at you, how do you expect to hold down a job in the real world?’
The comment was made at normal volume, but students who witnessed the exchange performed more poorly on tasks than a control group that had not witnessed rudeness.
The research suggests that civility between workers may have more benefits than just a harmonious atmosphere.
So it may be that keeping a civil tongue in your head can help to improve performance. If you would like advice on managing poor work performance or dealing with a grievance issue at work please contact
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