Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may not care so much about this piece, but surely, Cesc Fabregas or Mesut Ozil will feel some twinge or regret.

Fabregas and Ozil are regarded as technically gifted and are often looked to as providers of final balls and key passes…Xavi knows a thing or two about this two, but if they sat for a moment with this article they just might have second thoughts before setting up Diego Costa or Alexis Sanchez for another goal in the future.

Per Mail Online, Helping co-workers may seem like the right thing to do, but a new study has found there is a ‘dark side’ to this gesture.

Researchers have found that lending a hand to colleagues in the morning can lead to your own mental exhaustion in the afternoon.

The results have also revealed that these acts can spark a self-serving behavior, which can create a toxic work environment.

The study was conducted by a team at Michigan State University (MUS) who found helping others at work can be mentally fatiguing for employees- especially in the morning hours.

‘The increase in mental fatigue from helping coworkers in the morning led employees to reduce their helping behaviors in the afternoon and, perhaps more interestingly, they engaged in more self-serving political behaviors in the afternoon as well,’ said Russell Johnson, associate professor of management in MSU‘s Broad College of Business.

‘They switched from being other-oriented in the morning to being selfish in the afternoon.’

Johnson and his colleagues recruited 91 full-time employees for the study and observed them at work over a 10 day period.

During this time, subjects were asked to complete two surveys each day – one in the morning and the other in the afternoon – about their workplace experience.

Imagine Ronaldo or Alexis in training, providing assists for their teammates, but in real match situations…They want it all, every pass every ball inside the box.

Previous work has touched on the ‘dark side’ of helping others, but had only focused on the individual’s well-being and performance implications, Johnson said.

However, the new study was the first to explore the downstream effect on political behavior, which was found to also occur in the afternoon after employees had helped their coworkers.

And this behavior was found to potentially affect others in the office.

A team of experts conducted two studies during their research into understanding if people are aware about how their co-workers feel about them.

Surveys were given to two separate groups – the first were car salesmen and the other were students working together on a project.

The survey listed questions about feelings of liking such as ‘how much do you like each of your colleagues?’

Although we did not identify the consequences of these political behaviors, research has established that political acts from employees can culminate into a toxic work environment with negative well-being and performance consequences,’ the team wrote in the study.

However, the researchers noted that they are not suggesting employees stop helping each other, but they should show discretion, particularly when they start the day already tired or mentally fatigued.

When they do help co-workers in such circumstances, employers should make sure they get work breaks and lunch periods to help them recover.

If breaks aren’t possible, managers should make sure they encourage proper separation from work once employees return home, the team explained.

Culled from Mail Online