Unattractive Workers More Likely To Be Bullied

All the money spent researching ridiculous things could probably fund the United States Navy’s 6^th fleet for a few years.  Researchers have turned their well-trained minds toward the socially valuable concept of people who are bullied at work.  They are specifically concerned about unattractive people who are bullied at work.  I guess in their minds, if you’re attractive and bullied at work, it just doesn’t matter.  This is based on an actual article.  Below are some excerpts from the actual article published in the journal Human Performance.  My valuable insights are in italics.

A new study conducted at Michigan State University found that "unattractive" and/or disagreeable people are at a higher risk of being bullied by their co-workers.

Okay, so, if you’re attractive and “disagreeable,” according to this study, are you then the same as an unattractive worker?  Should this study be called “Revenge of the Unattractive and/or Disagreeable Researchers Who Have Been Bullied at Work?

Brent Scott, the lead investigator of the study, said that the finding is rather "ugly" itself.

Isn’t Brent Scott one very witty individual?

He added that even though many professionals like to believe they act mature at work, it can end up being "just like high school in many ways."

So are we trying to say the workplace is actually just one big high school environment?  Are we to believe that nobody ever grows up and matures?  Life is just one big long high school experience.

          “Like, who did you ask to the prom?”

          “Don’t you mean the company party?”

          “Yeah, whatever, like there’s a difference.”

A total of 114 people who worked at a health care facility in the southeastern U.S. were surveyed.

I guess you only find unattractive workers at health care facilities located in the southeastern United States.  I wonder how the residents of Georgia feel about this.

They were asked questions about whether they were ever bullied or made fun of during work.

I wonder if there was a question on the survey that said: “How do you feel being considered ugly and being asked how that contributes to you being bullied at work?”

Some examples of workplace bullying among employees include:

Shouting or swearing

“Damn you are *&&^^%^& ugly!”

spreading false rumors

“Is it true that when you were born the doctor looked at your head and your butt and told your mom she had given birth to Siamese twins?”

pushing or other forms of physical abuse

“Get out of the way, attractive workers coming through.”

intimidating the employee

“I’m not saying you’re life would be better if you would seek the services of a plastic surgeon.  I’m just saying you may not have to keep removing all the trash that accidentally spills onto your desk every day.  Know what I mean?”

tampering with their belongings

“We had to put your ugly purse in the part of the office dedicated to ugly people.  It’s called the stairwell.”

The attractiveness of the workers was judged by people who didn't know them.

(Sarcasm Alert)  Now there is one accurate way to determine the attractiveness of workers.  Did the researchers tell these people they’d been identified as unattractive and/or disagreeable by their peers?

Did they say “We’re conducting research and need to survey ugly people?  You’ve been chosen by your peers to partake in the survey.”  If that happened I would’ve loved to have seen it.

Compared to the attractive employees those who were considered to be unattractive were much more harshly treated, even when factors such as age, gender, and how long they had worked there were taken into account.

I guess a worn-out ugly guy who has worked in the same office his whole life is just screaming for abuse. 

In addition, questionnaires were given to the worker's family and friends to find out how agreeable and friendly they were.

(Sarcasm Alert) Oh yeah, every family dynamic would get this right.  “Why did you ask Uncle Bert?  He’ll never forgive me for eating his work lunch twinkies when I was a kid.”

Scott concluded:

"Our findings revealed that both personality and appearance matter. Knowing the potential targets of hurtful behavior could help managers monitor susceptible employees to prevent them from becoming victims or to provide counseling and social support if prevention attempts fail."

How do you counsel someone for being ugly?

“We feel it is in the best interest of you and the company if you wear a bag on your head while in the office.”

“Is that going to help me?”

“Well, it won’t hurt.”

I think this research promotes ugly discrimination.  Ugly people should join together and file a joint lawsuit.  I like how ugly is determined by people who have never met them and family members.  (Sarcasm Alert) What a great system?

Here is a link to the article

Human Performance Journal Article