生活中的粗魯行爲越來越多 職場中卻正好相反
So, you started your day checking social media sites or chat rooms where vitriol-laced personal attacks, especially about politics, have become the norm. Then, when you stopped off to pick up a few things on your way to work, some guy with too many items in the express checkout line ran his cart over your toe with no hint of an apology. By the time a fellow motorist (or several) had cut you off in traffic, perhaps with a rude hand gesture or two, wasn't it a relief to get to the office?
每天早上起得牀來，打開手機在社交媒體或網絡聊天室逛上一圈，聽聽鍵盤俠們開地圖炮，就政治問題一頓互噴；吃完早飯取個快遞，一位外賣小哥的電瓶車軋到了你的腳趾頭，連句道歉都沒有，便風馳電掣而去；開車上班路上，一個哥們兒車走龍蛇，強行變道超了你，還對你豎了箇中指。這樣一比較，坐在辦公室裏上班是不是要開心多了？If you're like most other Americans, the answer is a definite yes. A survey of 1,481 working adults earlier this year, by public relations firm Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, found that 93% think public rudeness is on the rise, and most (69%) see that as a "major problem." Moreover, it's getting worse.
如果你也是個普通老百姓，那麼答案必然是肯定的。今年年初，公關公司萬博宣偉和KRC研究公司對1481名美國職場人進行了一項調查，結果發現，93%的人認爲公共場合中的粗魯行爲正變得越來越多，大多數人（69%）認爲這是一個“重要問題”。而這種“禮崩樂壞”現象正變得愈發嚴重。Weber Shandwick has conducted this survey annually since 2010, and found in 2016 that people reported encountering an average of 6.2 instances per week of obnoxious behavior or uncalled-for speech. Just two years later, the number of weekly "incidents of incivility" had shot up to 10.6.
萬博宣偉自2010年開始每年都會進行這樣一次調查。2016年該公司發現，普通人每週平均會遭遇6.2起不文明行爲或不必要的口角之爭。僅僅兩年後，這個數字已經飆升到10.6起。
The exception, it seems, is the workplace. More than 90% of us see work as a "civility safety zone," the study says, up somewhat from 86% two years ago.
唯一的例外，貌似就是職場了。研究認爲，超過九成的人認爲職場是個“文明安全地帶”，這個比例要高於兩年前的86%。Not only that, but workplaces are apparently getting more civil as time goes by. For instance, 2011, when companies were still reeling from the Great Recession, was a very rude year. Well over one in three employees (43%) reported being on the receiving end of one or more "incidents of incivility."
不僅如此，隨着時間的推移，職場還顯然變得越來越文明。比如2011年，所有企業在金融危機的衝擊下自身難保時，有三分之一以上（43%）的受訪者表示，他們在職場中遭遇了一起以上的“不文明行爲”。By 2018, that had declined to 29%—markedly lower than the number who said they have run into rudeness online (39%), while shopping (39%), or while driving (also 39%).
而到2018年，這個比例已降至29%，明顯低於他們在上網時（39%）、購物時（39%）或駕車時（39%）遭遇的不文明行爲。
Why are people nicer to each other at work than elsewhere?
爲什麼人們在職場中會變得更友好？It's partly simple self-interest, of course. Less-than-courteous driving or letting loose with an online screed is, after all, unlikely to cost anyone his or her next raise or promotion, while being on one's best behavior in any professional setting is generally a common-sense career move. It's no coincidence that, while Facebook and Twitter are crawling with trolls, LinkedIn is not.
當然，這在一定程度上是出於自身利益。畢竟不文明駕駛或者網絡暴力不會導致一個人失去升職加薪的機會，然而在職場中，你要時時保持自己的專業形象，這一點早就是職場人的共識了。這就是爲什麼Facebook和推特都在跟假新聞和網絡暴力作鬥爭，而領英卻完全沒有這個麻煩。But the research also suggests there's more to it. Recent trends in how companies operate seem to have the welcome (if inadvertent) effect of encouraging coworkers to play nice.
但研究也表明，除此之外，還有其他一些因素。最近，企業界的潮流是鼓勵文明友善的工作環境。"CEOs, and managers at all levels, now are focused on collaboration, and on creating a collegial 'Best Places to Work' culture, in order to attract the best available talent," observes Leslie Gaines-Ross, Weber Shandwick's chief reputation strategist, who has been overseeing the civility surveys for the past decade. "That emphasis on teamwork really requires civil interactions between people."
萬博宣偉的首席聲譽策略師萊斯利·蓋恩斯-羅斯常年從事對社會不文明行爲的研究，他表示：“企業CEO和各級經理現在都很關注協作問題，並致力於打造一個‘最佳工作環境’，以吸引最優秀的人才。而團隊合作，則需要人與人之間的良好互動。”Nonetheless, even in workplaces where courtesy rules, a significant minority of employees believes there's more to be done.
儘管如此，即便是在一個相互尊重的工作環境裏，也有相當一部分員工認爲，在禮貌問題上還有很大的提升空間。Asked what changes they'd like to see by 2025, 32% said that gratuitous nastiness "will be considered a form of harassment," and 32% hope that "civility training will be mandatory."
當被當被問到2025年他們希望看到什麼變化時，有32%的受訪者表示，他們希望莫名其妙的污言穢語“將被認定爲一種性騷擾”。還有32%的受訪者表示：“希望文明培訓成爲一門必修課”。
