The Impact Of Rudeness On Supermarket: A Psychological Analysis

The Shocking Incident at the Supermarket

Describe about the Rudeness and Its Impact for Supermarket.

I stay in Melbourne, Australia and had visited a supermarket there for buying the monthly grocery for my house. There are various men and women employed in the store for assisting us in our shopping at the various sections of the store. There are three billing counters and all stay packed most of the time. I go there every month but what I noticed during this visit of mine had given me a very big shock. I suddenly noticed a couple with a four year old boy and the supermarket staffs at the billing counter were arguing upon something. But the argument was not a normal one and it soon took a very harsh turn. Both were talking very rudely to each other and on enquiring about the matter I came to know that the couple started the argument in a very rude manner with the staff who was behaving very politely until and unless the couple started using abusive language as well. The reason for the argument was that they ended up discovering some expired food items on the display rack and came at the billing counter and started to talk in a very high pitched tone. The staff apologized and tried to resolve the matter but the couple were more adamant towards fighting and discussing the said matter in the social media as well. The staffs at the store tried dealing with rudeness displayed by the couple with patience for a long time but very soon they also ended up giving up on the same.

The said incident made we wonder about how rude people can be and what psychological impact does it have on the others. I realised that rudeness is one such behavioural pattern whose impact is understood only once experienced and its effects have long lasting impact as well on not only the person facing such behaviour but the person who is being rude as well. It also has a very deep rooted effect on the people witnessing such situations of rudeness. It has been noticed off lately by me that rudeness amongst people is increasing which is promoting various uncivilized actions as well. There was a scenario in the past wherein the employees were seen to be rude to the customers but there has been a considerable shift in the same and various customers behave in a very uncivilized manner with the employees of a supermarket simply because they have this mind-set that they are the buyers who are paying money to them and purchasing their products. A study conducted in Australia suggested that it is a very common experience faced by people around with regards rudeness and unfortunately its impact is very sharp.

Understanding the Negative Impact of Rudeness

I remember the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard’s believe that, an environment of hostility and rudeness has a negative impact on the entire society. The main reasons for encouragement of crime, aggression, hostility and antagonism amongst people are rudeness. Rudeness has an effect on not only the person experiencing such a behaviour but also the person who is being rude and the spectators as well. In the said scenario I feel that the couple were way too rude. Had the staff not accepted his mistake and apologized and taken the requisite action, then such behaviour was acceptable to some extent, but it still does not give the customer any right to abuse the staff. It may be that the couple was worked up for some other reason but that does not give them the liberty to behave in an unruly manner (Hess et.al. 2016). The staff had taken an immediate action and in spite of the same they kept on indulging in an argument which clearly shows that there psychology was very meagre in nature and they belong to a background wherein people prefer to unnecessarily create a scene in public.

But the couple forgot the fact that they had a four year kid with them and it has a very striking impact on him. Children at their budding stage look up to their parents and learn various behavioural patterns from them. It is always easy to create an impression on a small child’s mind than an elder person’s mind simply because there brain and behaviour is yet to be developed enough, to be able to distinguish between good and bad. They tend to develop a snobbish kind of a nature seeing their parents as children learn more from actions than words. Thus the cost that the child has to pay for such a rudeness is very huge as it may have an impact on his social life as well as academic life (Gilligan, 1996).

Another major impact the said incident would have is on the staff at the supermarket. First and foremost they will be more cautious with the products being displayed but what is more important is the toll that such rudeness would have on the employees’ mindset. The performance level will dip starkly of the person who had to directly confront such a scenario. The other staff members who although had not confronted the situation directly but mere imagination of such uncivil event is enough to shake their morale and self confidence to perform (Porath, and Erez, 2007). The staff’s focus over work will get throttled and plummet the performance as well.

Shift in the Customer-Employee Relationship

The audience comprised of mixed opinions. There were some who supported the couple’s actions however others continued with their shopping ignoring the stance so that the staffs do not get embarrassed. The staff although had indulged into a thrift but never crossed limitations in spite of being victimized. Those who supported the couple and raised a voice against also belonged to such a category of people who take pride in indulging in unnecessary tiffs (Shellenbarger, 2004).

However, after the incident subsided I noticed that the staff that had faced the brunt was highly de-motivated and was unable to resume work immediately. But what I noticed the very next moment was admirable. His fellow members came towards him and boosted his morale by various actions and the one senior amongst the lot also narrated a worse incident of his career so that he feels little motivated. The staff members were jolly as always and encouraged him so that he could resume back at his earliest (Bies, & Tripp, 2005). Not only the staff but also the owner soon came over after hearing about the incident and he had a talk with him on a personal level. I believe that it is people’s psychology that if he is encouraged by his seniors and the employers then the work performance is definitely going to be far above average (Ladegaard, 2012). The next time I visited the store, I specifically noticed him and found him to be equally friendly and jolly. He took the incident as an experience of his career life.

If a clear interpretation of the behaviour is done of the various people involved in the incident basis the ‘state’ vs ‘trait’ attributions, it is clear that varying emotions are present such as anger, anxiety, politeness, depression etc. All are dealt with caution and care. ‘State’ is basically a temporary emotional reaction to the present surrounding which leads to physical, behavioural as well as psychological reactions. It also states that the intensity of such emotional turbulence varies depending upon the level of anger, frustration, happiness etc (Forgays et.al. 1997). Whereas a ‘trait’ is opposite of ‘state’ which has a permanent impact upon the emotions of the people. A ‘state’ takes the form of a ‘trait only when the said ‘state’ is of a repetitive nature. In the current scenario firstly the way the couple reacted on the present state clearly shows that it is an imbibed trait of the couple to indulge into fights and exaggerate the same till it satisfies their psychology of superiority to others. Secondly for the child the rude behavioural pattern is still a ‘state’ attributed which may become a permanent trait if he views such a situation on a daily basis. Thus it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that the child does not inculcate such a negative behavioural pattern. With regards spectators it is more of a ‘state’ attribution rather than ‘trait’ since this is not a regular affair for them and people keep coming across varying situations (Galor, 2012). Lastly the impact that such a state of affairs had on the staff or the staffs as well is also temporary in nature simply because the owner and the other colleagues of the employee were supportive enough to brain wash him of the fact that such crisis occurs and what is important is to ensure that it should not affect a person and a positive trait is what pays off well ultimately.

Thus on a concluding note I would like to say that not always rudeness will have a negative impact. If dealt with care, the way the supermarket owner did, it can be viewed as a weapon to deal with crisis also. However the spectators, specially the kid of the couple was the worse sufferer as for him his first teacher is his parents and if they are seen behaving unruly then it is highly expected that the children would behave in a similar fashion as well. Therefore on analysing the said situation basis the ‘state’ vs ‘trait’ attributes it is clear that it is upon the individual to deal with situations optimistically so that differentiation between what should be a ‘state’ and ‘trait’ can be cultivated in the positive direction. Education, awareness and discussions enables one to understand the ‘state’ vs ‘trait’ attribute thus ultimately contributing to the success of a person in his life cycle.

References:

Bies, R. J., & Tripp, T. M. (2005). The study of revenge in the workplace: Conceptual, ideological, and empirical issues. In S. Fox & P. E Spector (Eds.), Counterproductive work behavior: Investigations of actors and targets: 65– 82. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Forgays, D., Forgays, D. K., & Spielberger, C. (1997). Factor structure of the state–trait anger expression inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 69, 497–507.

Galor, S. (2012). Clarifying states and traits. Retrieved from https://drsharongalor.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/clarifying-states-and-traits/

Gilligan, J. (1996). Violence: Our Deadly epidemic and its causes. New York: Putman

Hess, U., Cossette, M., & Hareli, S. (2016). I and my friends are good people: The perception of incivility by self, friends and strangers. European Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 99–114.

Ladegaard, H. J. (2012). Rudeness as a discursive strategy in leadership discourse: Culture, power and gender in a Hong Kong workplace. Journal of Pragmatics, 44(12), 1661–1679.

Porath, C.L. and Erez, A. (2007). Does Rudeness Really Matter ? The Effects of Rudeness on Task Performance and Helpfulness. Academy of Management Journal. 50(5). 1181-1197

Shellenbarger, S. (2004). Domino Effect: The Unintended Results of Telling Off Customer-Service Staff. The Wall Street Journal.