The 12 Most Inappropriate Office Behaviors, Ranked

The 12 Most Inappropriate Office Behaviors, Ranked Americans broadly agree that just because a behavior is frowned upon doesnt mean that it isnt happening in their workplaces. In fact, some of the behaviors that people find the most inappropriate in the workplace are also the ones that a majority of people have seen occur. But their opinions on many workplace behaviors are largely dependent upon their age and sex. Thats at least according to a new poll on workplace behavior from NPR and Ipsos.Ipsos offered 1,130 American adults a sortiment of potentially objectionable office behaviors along with a range of options for each behavior, from one to seven (always, mostly and sometimes inappropriate it depends and sometimes, mostly or always appropriate).The 12 Most Inappropriate Workplace BehaviorsMost Americans polled have experienced behaviors like the following 12, which are ranked from most to least inappropriate, according to respondentsSpreading rumors about coworkers sex lifeDiscus sing coworkers sexual preferences, historyDeliberate touching, leaning, or corneringTelling sexual stories or jokesReferring to female as girl, babe, sweetie, etc.Supervisor flirting, believing its mutualSupervisor asking employee on dateStanding close, brushing up against coworkerMale commenting on females appearanceFemale commenting on males appearanceAsking questions about coworkers social lifeCoworker asking equal-rank coworker on dateSpreading rumors about coworkers andspeculating aboutcoworkerssexual preferences or history topped the chart for the most inappropriate behaviors, followed by deliberate touching and telling sexual jokes. These were consideredsomewhat, mostly or always inappropriate by around nine in 10 Americans. And when it comes to themagnitudeof which behaviors are worst, gossip also came out on top.How Do Employees View These Inappropriate Behaviors at Work Differently?But there were still behaviors that some coworkers didnt find so bad.Specifically, young men are mora likely than women or older men to consider several of these behaviors okay.Only 51 percent of men ages 18 to 34 considered it always inappropriate to talk about someones sexual preferences or history at work, while 72 percent to 88 percent of men and women in other age groups were against doing so.Likewise, about one-third of young men considered it always inappropriate to refer to adult women as girl, babe, sweetie or honey, compared to half or more among other age groups. Men were also less likely than everyone else to find always inappropriate for a supervisor to be flirting with an employee and believing the feelings are mutual, for a supervisor to be asking an employee on a date, and for telling sexual stories or jokes at work.But young men werent the only ones with sometimes conflicting opinions.Older people were also much more likely than younger people to think that asking about a coworkers social life is inappropriate.Around six in 10 men and women over 55 thought doing so inappropriate to some degree, compared to three in 10 18-to-34-year-olds and four in 10 35-to-54-year-olds. And women 55 years old and up were also much more likely than other groups to think that referring to an adult female coworker as babe sweetie or honey is most definitely always inappropriate.How Rampant Are These Inappropriate Behaviors in the Workplace?Buteven thoughmost people viewed all the aforementioned behaviors as uncalled for in the workplace, theyve allwitnessed them quite a lot. For example, around eight in 10 people find it inappropriate to call a female coworker girl or babe or sweetie, but around six in 10 have heard it happen at work. Likewise, nine in 10 people think sexual jokes or stories are inappropriate, but more than half havebeen told or heard others being told sexual jokes or stories.And, to little surprise, people werent admitting to their own behaviors either. Maybe change in the workplace to combat sexual harassment starts by being honest w ith ourselves and reflecting on our own behaviors. Because if everyones witnessing it, but no ones owning up to it, then were not going to get anywhere.--AnnaMarie Houlis is a multimedia journalist and an adventure aficionado with a keen cultural curiosity and an affinity for solotravel. Shes an editor by day and a travel blogger at HerReport.org by night.