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Anyone who's ever had a boss knows how tense things can get in the office. Instead of letting resentment build up and hurt your performance, scientists recommend a more creative outlet: try a voodoo doll.
According to ScienceAlert, a study published in The Leadership Quarterly revealed that when employees feel mistreated, stabbing pins into a voodoo doll of their boss can be a surprisingly effective way to deal with the situation (and far better than bottling up anger). The research, led by psychologist Dr. Lindie Hanyu Liang, an assistant professor at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, showed that engaging in "symbolic retaliation" after feeling wronged by a boss helps reduce resentment.
"We discovered that a simple, harmless symbolic act of revenge helps people feel like they're restoring fairness and getting their own back," Liang told The Telegraph.
In one study, almost 200 full-time employees were asked to recall a time when they felt mistreated by their boss. Some participants were then given a full minute to take revenge on a virtual voodoo doll with a variety of torture methods, such as sticking pins into it, setting it on fire with a candle, or pinching it with pliers. Afterward, all participants completed a word exercise with fill-in-the-blank questions.
Not only did those who had the chance to (pretend to) torture the voodoo doll feel less anger about the situation, but they also performed better on the word exercise. The study's authors concluded that harmless retaliation not only helps individuals but may also be beneficial for companies, as employees' sense of justice plays a critical role in their well-being and job performance.
Liang shared with The Telegraph that you don't even need a voodoo doll to get the same effect. "In theory, anything that symbolizes retaliation, like throwing darts at a picture of your boss, could work," she explained.
Just make sure your boss doesn't catch you in the act!
