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ATHENS, Ga. — “I’m just so swamped!” We’ve all worked with that person who seems to wear their stress like a badge of honor, constantly boasting about how overworked and overwhelmed they are. However, new research shows this “stress bragging” behavior does more harm than good. Researchers from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business have found that people who frequently complain about their stressful work lives are seen as less competent and less likable by their colleagues.
The findings, in a nutshell
The researchers surveyed hundreds of workers and found that stress braggers generated ill will and were less likely to receive help from co-workers when they were legitimately overloaded. Beyond just making themselves look bad, the study published in Personnel Psychology revealed that stress bragging can have a contagious effect, causing those around the bragger to feel more stressed themselves and experience higher levels of burnout. By constantly portraying extreme busyness as the norm, it creates an expectation that everyone should be operating at intense, unsustainable levels.
Simply put, when someone keeps telling all their co-workers about how busy and overwhelmed they are, the entire office can start to feel busy and overwhelmed.
While it’s understandable to vent about work stress on occasion, the researchers caution against wearing it as a self-proclaimed badge of honor. A better approach is to be mindful of complaining too much and find healthy outlets to manage stress. For managers, recognizing chronic stress braggers on their teams is important, as the negative impacts can ripple through the workplace culture.
How did scientists reach this conclusion?
First, the University of Georgia team had 360 people read fictional scenarios depicting a co-worker either bragging about stress levels, simply stating they were stressed, or not mentioning stress at all. Participants then rated the fictional co-workers on likability, perceived competence, and their willingness to help that person when overloaded.
However, to ensure the results weren’t just based on imaginary scenarios, the researchers also surveyed 218 actual employees about their experiences with real-life stress braggers in their offices. This allowed them to analyze whether exposure to frequent stress-bragging behaviors affected the stress levels and burnout of those employees over time.
By combining hypothetical scenarios with data from the field, the scientists could tease apart the subtle distinctions between simply being stressed, which can enhance perceived competence, versus overt boastful bragging about stress, which has the opposite effect. Their findings reveal the powerful negative impacts that one person’s chronic stress broadcasting can have on an entire workplace environment.
What do the researchers say?
“This is a behavior we’ve all seen, and we all might be guilty of at some point,” says Jessica Rodell, lead author of the study and a professor of management in UGA’s Terry College of Business, in a media release. “When I was wondering about why people do this, I thought maybe we are talking about our stress because we want to prove we’re good enough. We found out that often backfires.”
“People are harming themselves by doing this thing they think is going to make them look better to their colleagues,” Rodell continues.
“If you genuinely feel stressed, it’s OK to find the right confidant to share with and talk about it,” Rodell explains. “But be mindful that it is not a badge of honor to be bragged about—that will backfire. It’s not benign. It not only harms the bragging co-worker. If employees see somebody bragging about their stress, it will have a spillover effect that can have bigger implications for the workplace.”
