A study by three psychologists at the Lund University in Sweden reveals that facing rudeness at work is a major reason for dissatisfaction at work, IBN Live reports.

The study also noted that the unpleasant behavior spreads if nothing is done about it. Hence, incivility at workplace should be treated with a lot of seriousness.

The researchers said that rudeness at the workplace includes behavior such as spreading rumors, taking credit for the work completed by others and not appreciating subordinates for their work.

For the study, the researchers studied nearly 6,000 people on the social climate in the workplace. In total, 75 percent of the respondents said that they had been victims of rudeness at least once or twice in the past year.

"It is really about behaviour that is not covered by legislation, but which can have considerable consequences and develop into outright bullying if it is allowed to continue", said lead researcher Eva Torkelson from Lund University in Sweden.

The findings appeared in the journal BioMed Research International.

"An important finding from our studies is that those who behave rudely in the workplace experience stronger social support, which probably makes them less afraid of negative reactions to their behaviour from managers and colleagues," Martin Backstrom, professor of psychology at Lund University noted. 

Torkelson said that better training could help to combat the problem, according to Dailymail.

'When people become aware of the actual consequences of rudeness, it is often an eye-opener,' she explained. 

'And, of course, most people do not want to be involved in making the workplace worse.'