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Employees feel less like victims when they return hostility with hostility and as a result feel less psychological distress, experience greater job satisfaction and actually have a deeper commitment to their employer, according to researchers from The Ohio State University in Columbus. So how do you return hostility without getting fired for it? You have to be a bit sneaky and passive-aggressive. Instead of yelling at the boss, ignore him. You can also act like you have no idea what the boss is talking about or just give an assignment a half-hearted effort. "Before we did this study, I thought there would be no upside to employees who retaliated against their bosses, but that's not what we found," said Bennett Tepper, lead author of the study and professor of management and human resources at Ohio State's Fisher College of Business. "The best situation is certainly when there is no hostility. But if your boss is hostile, there appear to be benefits to reciprocating. Employees felt better about themselves because they didn't just sit back and take the abuse." Study No. 1: Nearly 170 people completed two surveys by mail, seven months apart. In the first survey, the respondents completed a 15-item measure of supervisor hostility developed by Tepper in 2000. It asked participants to rate how often their supervisors did things like ridiculing them and telling them that their "thoughts and feelings are stupid." The participants reported how often they retaliated by doing things like ignoring their supervisor. Seven months later, the same respondents completed measures of job satisfaction, commitment to their employer, psychological distress and negative feelings. Results showed that when bosses were hostile--but employees didn't retaliate--the workers had higher levels of psychological distress, less satisfaction with their jobs and less commitment to their employer. However, those employees who returned the hostility didn't see those negative consequences. Study No. 2: But why do employees feel better when they retaliate? Does retaliation hurt their careers? To answer these questions, 371 people nationwide took an online survey three times, each of which was taken three weeks apart. The first survey asked respondents many of the same questions as were asked in the first study. The second survey asked questions designed to test if the employees felt like a victim in their relationship with their boss. In addition to other questions, the third survey asked employees about career outcomes, such as whether they had been promoted and whether they were meeting their income goals. Results showed that employees who turned the hostility back on their bosses were less likely to identify themselves as victims and were then less likely to report psychological distress and more likely to be satisfied with and committed to their jobs. How can returning hostility not only help employees avoid psychological distress, but also allow them to remain committed to their employer and be more satisfied with their jobs? Tepper said he believes employees who fight back may have the admiration and respect of co-workers. "There is a norm of reciprocity in our society. We have respect for someone who fights back, who doesn't just sit back and take abuse. Having the respect of co-workers may help employees feel more committed to their organization and happy about their job." This doesn't mean you should automatically retaliate against a bad boss. "The real answer is to get rid of hostile bosses," advised Tepper. "And there may be other responses to hostile bosses that may be more beneficial. We need to test other coping strategies." The study findings were published in the journal Personnel Psychology. --From the Editors at Netscape |
If your boss has a penchant for yelling at you or ridiculing you in front of others, try giving it right back.
