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Only 7% of Americans Rate Their Workplace as Hostile
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Americans workers may feel a bit frustrated and unsettled these days with the state of the economy, but they still overwhelmingly rate the place they work as largely anger-free.

Only 7% of working Americans in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken over two nights last week say the place they work is an angry and hostile environment. Eighty-eight percent (88%) disagree.

The numbers are higher only when it comes to voices being raised in the office, with 30% saying they have witnessed one employee yelling at another worker within the past month. But again by a substantial margin, more than twice that number (64%) say they have seen no such thing.

Some experts have argued recently that so-called “desk rage,” anger in the workplace, is on the rise because of the increasing financial pressures Americans are facing. But the new survey find this is not as common as these experts suggest.

Even among groups who traditionally have complained -- and litigated -- over hostile work conditions, there are few who rate their current workplaces as hostile. Only 4% of women feel that way, versus 9% of men. Ten percent (10%) of African-Americans say they work in an angry and hostile environment versus 4% of whites, but 85% of black workers say this is not the case for them.

Older workers also reject a hostile, angry characterization of the place they work.

Men under the age of 40 are a rare exception, with 17% saying they work in an angry environment. Those earning under $20,000 a year agree by a comparable number (18%).

Fewer than one-in-10 adults (8%) say they have been physically threatened at their present jobs, while 91% say they have not. Similarly, 93% say they have not witnessed one employee attacking another, and 92% say they have not seen a fellow employee deliberately destroying company property.

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Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports Election Edge™ Premium Service offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage available anywhere.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

Survey of 1,000 Working Americans
July 11-12, 2008

Within the past month at work, have you witnessed one employee yelling at another employee?

Yes

30%

No

64%

Not sure

6%

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