Beware - Work Stress As Contagious As A Cold, Says Study

Do you sit next to a whingeing workmate who constantly moans about fellow colleagues, workload or politics? 

Professor Elaine Hatfield, a psychologist from the University of Hawaii, discovered that stress can be as contagious as a cold, and that 'passive' or second-hand stress and anxiety can quickly spread around the workplace.

'People seem to be capable of mimicking others' facial, vocal, and postural expressions with stunning rapidity,' Hatfield said.'As a consequence, they are able to feel themselves into those other emotional lives to a surprising extent.'

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