Negativity is a virus. It’s more destructive than we might think. Not only does it tank people’s performance and lead to toxic interactions within the community, but, to make matters worse, like any virus, it’s contagious, infecting those who are exposed to it. We’ve learned that even small doses of negativity get passed on to other team members.
Poor mental well-being is also like an infectious disease. Researchers studied more than two hundred fifty thousand employees in over seventeen thousand firms over twelve years and found that negative mental health, in the form of anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders, spreads. They found that newcomers who are diagnosed with these mental disorders or who leave unhealthy organizations (those with a higher prevalence of negative mental health) to start new jobs in other organizations serve as “carriers” of negative mental health and can “implant” depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders into their people. Managers are particularly influential—they’re “superspreaders” who spread low mental well-being more easily.
And if all that’s not enough to convince you of the killing effects of negativity, a recent study found that repetitive negative thinking in later life was linked to cognitive decline and greater deposits of two harmful proteins responsible for Alzheimer’s disease. Consider what kind of negativity you might be taking in from your surroundings—the news you read, the social media you peruse, the conversations you overhear, the feedback you get from family, friends, colleagues, and bosses.
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