One "bad apple" can spread negative behaviour like a virus.
One "bad apple" can spread negative behavior like a virus to bring down officemates or destroy a good team, according to a new study examining conflict in the workplace.
Negative behavior outweighs positive behavior, so a bad apple can spoil the whole barrel, but one or two good workers can't "unspoil" it, researchers at the University of Washington said in the current issue of the journal Research in Organizational Behavior.
"Companies need to move quickly to deal with such problems because the negativity of just one individual is pervasive and destructive and can spread quickly," said co-author Terence Mitchell, a professor of management and organization.
The study defines negative workers as those who do not do their fair share of the work , are chronically unhappy and emotionally unstable, or bully or attack others.
The researchers said they found that a single "toxic" or negative team member can be the catalyst for a group's downward spiral.
In a follow-up study, the researchers found the vast majority of the people they surveyed could identify at least one "bad apple" with whom they had worked and who had produced organizational dysfunction.
Hiring managers could head off the problem by being more thorough when screening potential employees, according to researchers.
Researchers recommend checking references and administering personality tests to weed out those who are "really low on agreeableness and emotional stability."
一项针对办公室矛盾的最新调查表明，一个“坏苹果”式员工的不良行为会像病毒一样传播，最终会带坏同事或破坏一个好团队。
华盛顿大学的研究人员在最新一期的《组织行为研究》[文章来源：中国大学在线]中指出，消极行为的影响力比积极行为大，所以一个坏苹果会毁掉整桶苹果，但一两个好员工却无法起到“反破坏”的作用。
研究报告的撰写者之一、管理和组织行为学教授特伦斯·米歇尔说：“由于一个员工的不良行为会快速传播而且颇具渗透力和杀伤力，所以公司应立即采取措施杜绝此类问题。”
研究人员将“消极员工”定义为那些不完成本职工作、长期不开心、情绪不稳定及欺负或攻击同事的人。
研究人员发现，仅一个“坏苹果”式的员工或不良的团队成员便能成为瓦解整个团队的催化剂。
研究人员在一项后续调查中发现，大多数受访者都能列举出至少一个曾经共事、影响团队团结的“坏苹果”式同事。
对于这个问题，研究人员建议，招聘经理们在筛选员工时应更加严格谨慎。
他们建议，可以通过审核应聘人员推荐信和进行人格测试的方法来剔除那些“不合群、情绪不稳定”的候选者。
Vocabulary:
do their fair share of the work : 完成他们的本职工作
