We all have our bad days. No one is going to wake up each and every morning in a cheery mood. Sometimes we all feel just a little bit grumpier than usual, and that’s just a part of being human. Yet once we get to the office, many in the workforce feel obligated to hide their emotions, whether they be frustration, anger, or sadness. Interestingly, a new study finds keeping one’s behavior at the office authentic will result in greater productivity and a better relationship with co-workers. In other words: act how you feel, and don’t fake it.
大家都有不順心的時候。很少有人每天早上起床都是開開心心的。有時候我們覺得比平時更暴躁，但這也是人之常情。然而一旦我們踏進辦公室，許多人就覺得有必要藏起自己的情緒，無論是感到絕望、生氣還是悲傷。有趣的是，一項新研究發現，在辦公室裡表裡如一能提高工作效率，還能改善和同事之間的關係。換言之，表露出內心感受，不要強裝笑臉。
"We found that people who put forth effort to display positive emotions towards others at work receive higher levels of support and trust from co-workers,」 explains Chris Rosen, management professor at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, in a release. 「These people also reported significantly higher levels of progress on work goals likely due to the support they received.」
阿肯色州大學的山姆·M·沃頓商學院的管理學教授克裡斯·羅森在一份報告中解釋道：「我們發現，職場中努力向他人展現出積極情緒的人，從同事那裡得到的支持和信任更多。由於他們所得到的支持，這些人也能更好地實現工作目標。」
It’s extremely common for the average workspace to preach an attitude of unrelenting positivity. While this may be beneficial from the CEO’s perspective, it just isn’t realistic when applied to real people with real problems and daily tribulations. That’s why, the research team have concluded, employees will actually feel better, work harder, and connect more with their peers if they don’t hide their feelings with a fake smile.
大多數公司都宣揚一種沒有人情味的積極的工作態度。也許從執行長的角度來看，這種積極性是有益的，但對於被真實問題和每日磨難困擾的人來說，這種要求太不現實了。因此，研究團隊得出結論說，如果員工無需隱藏情緒、無需強裝笑臉，他們的感覺會更好、工作會更努力，和同事的關係也會更緊密。
Over 2,500 working adults, from a variety of industries such as finance or engineering, took part in this research via surveys. The questionnaires measured two distinct types of on-the-job emotional regulation: surface acting and deep acting.
這項研究招募了2500多名在職員工參與調查，他們來自金融、工程等多個行業。通過填寫調查問卷，研究人員衡量了兩種不同的職場情緒調節方式：「表層情緒調節」和「深層情緒調節」。
Surface acting means faking happiness while interacting with other employees, and deep acting refers to actively trying to change one’s emotions and feelings in order to be more pleasant at work. The study’s authors were interested to see how common it is for working adults to regulate their emotions while on the clock, and if so, why? What benefits are employees gaining from such behavior?
「表層情緒調節」指的是和同事互動時，一個人表面上假裝出來的快樂情緒，而「深層情緒調節」指的是為了取悅同事，一個人主動地去改變自己的情緒和感受。該研究的作者想知道，上班族在工作時調節自己情緒的做法有多普遍，如果大家普遍都會調節情緒，為什麼要這麼做，以及員工從這種行為中獲得的好處。
After analyzing all of the survey responses, researchers identified four distinct types of individuals who disguise or regulate their emotions around co-workers. Non-actors rarely hide their true feelings, and if they do, only to a very small extent. Low actors usually take part in only slight deep and surface acting. Deep actors perform lots of deep acting and low levels of surface acting, and regulators exhibit high levels of both surface and deep acting.
在分析了所有的調查問卷之後，研究人員確定了四種不同類型的情緒調節者：第一種，「無調節型」，這種人基本上不隱藏自己的感受，有什麼說什麼，就算是隱藏，也是非常少的；第二種，「低層次調節型」，這種員工通常只會使用一些比較膚淺的掩飾手法來隱藏自己的感受；第三種，「深層次調節型」，他們會使用大量的「深層情緒調節」，再加上一點「表層情緒調節」；第四種，「全面調節型」，他們展現出高水平的「表層情緒調節」和「深層情緒調節」技能。
Proportionally, non-actors were by far the smallest identified group in the study.
研究發現，迄今為止，「無調節型」的員工所佔的比例是最小的。
Regulators, or employees who tend to hide their true feelings most often, are usually motivated by feelings of self-interest. These people believe that by hiding their feelings they will gain access to additional work resources, and look good in front of their managers and co-workers. Deep actors, on the other hand, are usually more motivated by 「pro-social」 factors. This means they choose to hide their emotions because they believe it fosters a healthier working environment.
最頻繁地掩飾真實情緒的「全面調節型」員工通常是出於對自身利益的考慮。這些人認為，通過隱藏自己的感受，他們可以獲得額外的工作資源，給上司和同事的印象也會比較好。而「深層次調節型」員工則通常是從有利於社會的因素出發，這意味著他們選擇隱藏自己的情緒是因為他們相信這有助於營造更健康的工作環境。
Regulators are the most likely of the four to experience great emotional fatigue and exhaustion. Meanwhile, deep actors tend to achieve improved well-being most frequently.
「全面調節型」員工是四種類型當中最容易感到身心俱疲的。與此同時，「深層次調節型」員工往往是幸福感最高的那種人。
The study is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
該研究報告發表在《應用心理學雜誌》上。