Study: morning arguments at home lead to more productive meetings at work.
A practice called “mood repair” could turn the bad start to your morning into a positive and productive day at work.
Researchers at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management found when people get up on the wrong side of the bed, they tend to be better partners in the workplace.
Lead study author Mahira Ganster says an early-morning argument with a spouse or significant other led to a period of taking another person's point of view once the work day started.
"What we found is that perspective-taking really helped buffer the negative feelings people felt from that incivility when they made it into work that day."
Ganster worked on the study along with UA professor Allison Gabriel and collaborators from other colleges and universities. They discovered workers sought to mend their feelings on the job after absorbing harsh words at home.
"Experiencing that incivility, those rude interactions, put them in a worse mood," said Ganster. "But that meant they were also most likely to seek out their co-workers and find ways to help them."
The study adds to research data showing how experiences at home can directly affect how people think and behave at work.
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