Rudeness is CONTAGIOUS! All the more reason to be super duper nice

We may be battling flu season, the common cold and the dreaded annual throat infection this winter, but scientists believe we have another contagion to be worried about: Rudeness. 

Yep, studies conducted at the University of Florida have concluded that people who regularly witness rude behaviour amongst their peers are more susceptible to adopting rude behaviour themselves. 

Even more dangerously perhaps is that the study also revealed that a person who witnessed a lot of negative behaviour in their day to day life tended to also interpret normal behaviour as rude. This, in turn, can result in them reacting rudely.

We are talking about a never ending cycle of meanness people! 

The studies involved showing test subjects videos of co-workers interacting both positively and negatively towards each other. The viewers were then asked to respond to customer service emails. 

The participants who had viewed the rude interaction video were more likely to interpret a moderately worded email as extremely rude and respond accordingly. 

Another study paired individuals with rude team members to test their reaction. The experiment showed that the subject tended to be increasingly rude in their further interactions after being paired with a not so nice person. 

So, we think the lesson here y'all is to just be nice. Simples!