You might think you left the world of cliques and in-crowds behind when you left high school.

    你或許以為高中畢業(yè)就告別了拉幫結(jié)派和成群結(jié)隊(duì)的生活。

    You’d be wrong. The benefits of being popular extend all the way into the adult workplace, based on research in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.

    你或許錯(cuò)了。最新一期《應(yīng)用心理學(xué)》(Journal of Applied Psychology)刊登的一項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果顯示，良好人緣帶來(lái)的好處會(huì)一直延續(xù)到成年人的職場(chǎng)生涯。

    Just like children on the playground, co-workers not only agree on who’s popular, but they also afford those lucky few more favorable treatment. This includes more help and courteous conduct, and less rudeness and withholding of helpful information, based on a study of 255 employees and their co-workers in hospital, restaurant, sales and administrative jobs.

    就像兒童在操場(chǎng)玩耍一樣，同事之間不僅會(huì)就誰(shuí)受歡迎達(dá)成一致，還會(huì)給那些少數(shù)幸運(yùn)兒更多友善對(duì)待。研究顯示，這些幸運(yùn)兒會(huì)得到更多的幫助和善待，還會(huì)遭受較少的粗魯對(duì)待和信息隱瞞。在這項(xiàng)研究中，密歇根大學(xué)(Michigan State University)的斯科特(Brent Scott)和佛羅里達(dá)大學(xué)(University of Florida)的賈奇(Timothy Judge)對(duì)醫(yī)院、餐館、銷(xiāo)售和行政職位上的255名員工以及同事進(jìn)行了調(diào)查。

    The researchers, Brent Scott of Michigan State University and Timothy Judge of the University of Florida, said popular workers drew more co-worker support regardless of their status on the organization chart. They also may gain an unfair advantage over less charming colleagues, the researchers suggest, which may hinder a meritocracy. “By valuing popularity, organizations may be promoting a certain ‘clubby’ atmosphere that mimics school culture” rather than rewarding merit, the researchers write.

    研究人員表示，無(wú)論在組織中的地位如何，人緣好的員工總是會(huì)得到同事們更多的幫助。兩位研究者暗示，這些員工還會(huì)比魅力較弱的員工獲得不公平的優(yōu)勢(shì)，這可能會(huì)阻礙唯才是舉。研究人員寫(xiě)道，如果以受歡迎程度為評(píng)判標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，組織可能就會(huì)推崇一種類似學(xué)校文化的俱樂(lè)部氣氛，而非任人唯賢。

    I’ve been fortunate in working in meritocracies most of my life, but that’s not the norm. Among fictional examples, consider the television comedy “The Office:” Who in his or her right mind would promote the cold, manipulative Angela Martin over the amiable Jim Halpert? The popular paper salesman proves the study’s point, rising fast on the Dunder Mifflin organization chart with his smart “people skills,” despite his indifference to his job.

    我很慶幸自己大多數(shù)時(shí)間都工作在唯才是舉的環(huán)境，但這不是普遍現(xiàn)象。如果要找個(gè)虛構(gòu)的例子，可以想想電視喜劇《辦公室》(The Office)里的情況：思維正常的人誰(shuí)會(huì)提拔冷漠苦干的安吉拉•馬丁(Angela Martin)而不是和善親切的吉姆•哈本特(Jim Halpert)？這位廣受歡迎的紙品推銷(xiāo)員以自身經(jīng)歷驗(yàn)證了上述研究結(jié)果：盡管對(duì)工作漠不關(guān)心，但哈本特卻以聰明的“為人處事”在Dunder Mifflin公司迅速竄升。

    In fact, what these researchers call popularity, career coaches might call savvy office politics the art of getting people in your corner. And it’s clearly a big deal in many workplaces. A Salary.com survey last fall found dealing with office politics was one of the top two time-wasters at work, after “fixing someone else’s work.”

    實(shí)際上，這些研究人員所謂的人際關(guān)系，職場(chǎng)教練可能會(huì)稱之為“辦公室政治”──讓人站到你這邊的技巧。這在很多工作場(chǎng)所顯然非常重要。Salary.com去年秋天的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，應(yīng)對(duì)辦公室政治排在“替他人收拾爛攤子”之后，成為職場(chǎng)第二大分散工作精力的煩心事。