Want success? And avoid depression? Butter up the boss

A new study has revealed that sucking up to the boss could help employees climb the corporate ladder more quickly and keep them away from psychological depression.

The research showed that when politically savvy professionals use the coping skill of ingratiation, they might neutralise ostracism and other mental misery that less cunning individuals have to cope with in the workplace.

In the study, researchers examined the relationship between workplace ostracism and employee psychological distress, with a focus on moderating effects of ingratiation and political skill.

The researchers, who surveyed 215 employees from two oil and gas companies in China, found that workplace exclusion was linked to psychological distress.

“Our data confirmed that workplace ostracism was positively related to psychological distress,” said Ho Kwong Kwan one of the study's authors.

“We found that ingratiation neutralized the relationship between workplace ostracism and psychological distress when used by employees with a high level of political skill, but exacerbated the association when ingratiation was used by employees with low political savvy,” Kwan added.

The study was published in the Journal of Management Studies.