Who is aware of how they treat their officemates at work? It might be time to check the attitude and start playing nice for the sake of good sleep, experts advise.
A series of studies conducted by a research team at the University of Iowa revealed that bad coworkers—defined as people who tend to act aggressively or are quick to blame others—were more likely than well-behaved coworkers to report having trouble sleeping at night.
In two studies, more than 600 workers in both the U.S. and China were asked to report their “counterproductive work behaviors” (CWB) over a 10-day span. CWBs included things such as “inappropriate behaviour, anger, aggression, gossiping, and blaming others,” according to Business Insider. Participants were also asked to report how they felt when they were not working and how they slept. In the third study, employees were asked to think back to how they’d acted at work in the past.
[Editor’s Note: The information provided should not be considered a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a sleep doctor or other medical expert if questions arise around one’s own health.]
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Poor Work Behavior Linked to Poor Sleep
Results from all three studies found that people who reported behaving badly at the office also reported focusing on their behavior after work and in the evening, leading to trouble falling asleep or even insomnia, according to the study.
“After people engage in bad workplace behaviors, they come to realise such bad deeds threaten their positive moral self-image, which creates stress,” said Zhenyu Yuan, a management and organisations doctoral student at the University of Iowa and lead researcher of the study. “As a result, they may keep ruminating over their stress from work, and thus have trouble falling and staying asleep at night.”
According to a release from the Tippie College of Business at the University of Iowa, “the researchers say that as insomnia is becoming a public health concern, the research highlights the important role of workers’ own behaviors in creating problems for their own sleep health.”
The team behind the studies recommends that managers “take effective measures” to lessen bad behavior in the workplace.
According to the business school’s release, suggestions include addressing workplace behavior issues during performance reviews. “For example, in the performance review process, management should not only specify not-to-dos, but also thoroughly explain the underlying logic of the not-to-dos from a moral perspective,” researchers said.
Being a bully at work isn’t the only reason employees seem to be losing sleep. A recent survey conducted in the American workplace found that 44% of employees lose sleep stressing or feeling overwhelmed about work.
[Editor’s Note: The information provided should not be considered a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a sleep doctor or other medical expert if questions arise around one’s own health.]
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