Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users
to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response
is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual
response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the
browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published
online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed.
Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles.
The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being
wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our
attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not
including references and author details. We will no longer post responses
that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
The identification of 'faked happiness', or rather enforced
politeness, from call-centre workers in response to rude customers, being
potentially damaging to their health (Duke 2006), is an important one. The
obverse of this is that it is better for your health to verbally defend
yourself against rude customers. I therefore have concerns about the
possibility of the popular press reporting this study as it might seem to
give tacit permission to employees to be rude and aggressive to customers,
even if it is in their own defense. This kind of 'obverse evidence' has an
amazing habit of being rapidly absorbed into practice. Surely an
aggressive exchange of words (made easier because of the unliklihood of
the caller and the employee being known to each other,) is even more
likely to raise heart rate and blood pressure. I would hope that any
company worth its salt would provide assertiveness training to its
employees to enable and empower them to defend themselves with dignified
emotional strength, rather than potentially unbridled aggression.
"Faked happiness"
The identification of 'faked happiness', or rather enforced
politeness, from call-centre workers in response to rude customers, being
potentially damaging to their health (Duke 2006), is an important one. The
obverse of this is that it is better for your health to verbally defend
yourself against rude customers. I therefore have concerns about the
possibility of the popular press reporting this study as it might seem to
give tacit permission to employees to be rude and aggressive to customers,
even if it is in their own defense. This kind of 'obverse evidence' has an
amazing habit of being rapidly absorbed into practice. Surely an
aggressive exchange of words (made easier because of the unliklihood of
the caller and the employee being known to each other,) is even more
likely to raise heart rate and blood pressure. I would hope that any
company worth its salt would provide assertiveness training to its
employees to enable and empower them to defend themselves with dignified
emotional strength, rather than potentially unbridled aggression.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests