Faking happiness at work can make you ill
BMJ 2006; 332 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.332.7544.747-b (Published 30 March 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;332:747- Katy Duke
- Vienna
Being forced to appear happy at work seems to cause health problems ranging from depression to cardiovascular conditions, ongoing research in Germany has shown.
Psychologists working at the University of Frankfurt am Main have been looking at jobs that demand a high level of “fake happiness.”
Dieter Zapf, the chairman of the work and organisational psychology department at the university, and his team set up a fake railway customer complaints call centre and asked 80 university students to take part in experiments while acting as staff. Half of the group were told that they could verbally defend themselves against …
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