People prime the human brian daily for prickly or polite results at work.
John Bargh, researcher at
Bargh gave university students one of two scrambled sentence tests. One group of students received the five minute test – peppered with words such as …
aggressively
rude
bother
disturb
intrude
infringe.
The second group received a similar 5-minute test with words such as …
respect
considerate
appreciate
patiently
yield
polite
courteous
Can you guess the results? After the test students were to hand work to the researcher – who had planted a person in the doorway to the office they were instructed to enter for their next assignment. This person continually told the research about being confused – and continually asked simply questions, such as How does the test work? What do I do next? And so on….
The researcher’s hidden question was … Would there be a big difference between reactions to the man who kept them from the researcher through small-talk – and would the two groups react to this conflict in similar ways.
Bargh discovered that students who received the polite words were less bothered and more gracious … when they could not get through to him because of a planted student who asked repeatedly dumb questions and at the same time blocked the door.
Students who’d read and engaged with the rude words were less patient and most of these interrupted after about 5 minutes. In contract, most of the people primed through polite words, acted in a surprisingly patient manner. In fact 82% of the "polite word" group never interrupted at all, in spite of the frustration.
What primes your brain and others where you work?
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