Give it right back to hostile bosses.

• Position: Anxiety - Brief article

In a result that surprised researchers, a study in Personal Psychology found that employees who have hostile bosses are better off on several measures If they return the hostility, as these workers felt less like victims when they retaliated against their bad bosses and, as a result, experienced less psychological distress, more job satisfaction, and more commitment to their employer.

"Before we did this study, I thought there would be no upside to employees who retaliated against their bosses, but that's not what we found," admits Bennett Tepper, a human resources specialist and lead author of the study. "The best situation is certainly when there Is no hostility but, if your boss is hostile, there appears to be benefits to reciprocating. Employees felt better about themselves because they didn't just sit back and take the abuse."

Hostile bosses were ones who did things like yell at, ridicule, and intimidate their workers. Employees who returned hostility did it by ignoring their boss, acting like they did not know what their bosses were talking about, and giving just...