Why Is Rudeness So Contagious?

Just witnessing an act of rudeness can make us more likely to be rude ourselves. Learn why -- and what you can do about it -- in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/why-rudeness-contagious.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogle bam here. Let's say someone
cuts you off on the highway, so you flip him
the bird. You're mad and now he's mad. You both
get to where you're going and snap. But you're unsuspecting friends, family,
or colleagues, who in turn flings some vitriol at others,

(00:24):
and so the cycle continues. Rudeness is unpleasant, but it's
also highly contagious and can affect your physical and mental health.
That's according to Danny Wallace, author of f You Very Much,
Understanding the Culture of Rudeness and What we can Do
about it. Before the article this episode is based on

(00:45):
HOS to Work, spoke with Wallace. He said, when someone
has been truly rude to you and broken the rules
of civilty, it's very confusing, which is one reason why
people can't think of anything witty to say in the
moment as a retort and big as you've been disrespected,
you're trying to claw back some of that respect somehow.

(01:06):
This is why Wallace said, you keep replaying incidents of
rudeness over and over in your head, particularly when you
didn't make the perfect comeback at the time, and rudeness
is contagious, he notes in an article published in the
January issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology, researchers cited
three separate studies that showed that if someone was rude

(01:27):
to you, you were more likely to behave uncivilly towards
someone else. So if you were cut off driving to
work later, you might open an email from a colleague
that asks will you be at today's meeting and feel
they're implying that you're going to skip it without a
good reason. Even if you merely witnessed a rude interaction
between two strangers, you became more likely to be nasty

(01:49):
to someone else. Rudeness affects your brains frontal lobes, the
area responsible for working memory, and those feelings can make
your work stuff. Her research shows that your creativity and
job performance knows dive when someone is nasty to you.
That's because rudeness is emotionally draining. One of the most

(02:11):
chilling aspects of uncivil behavior is that it can affect
health and safety. Wallace says that a study on surgeons
in Israel showed that rudeness made them fifty less effective.
They didn't communicate well, picked up the wrong instruments, and
missed changes that affected their initial diagnosis. Despite this alarming intel,

(02:32):
there is hope the workplace rudeness can be addressed through
plans of actions set up by management. In fact, some
scientists are working on a rudeness fact scene for doctors,
a video game that they could play when they come
to work to take a breath and reset their minds.
The simple awareness of incivilities contagion can help you monitor
your own behavior so that you don't pass it on.

(03:00):
Today's episode is based on the article why Rudeness is
so Compagious on How stuff Works dot com, written by
Melanie Redzii McManus. For more from Danny Wallace about rudeness,
check out the podcast Part Time Genius. They interviewed Wallace
for an episode titled Are We in the Middle of
a Rudeness Epidemic? Rain Stuff is production of by Heart
Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and it's

(03:21):
produced by Tyler Clain. Four more podcasts from my Heart Radio,
visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.