Christine Kuhn

Don't talk politics in the office.

Ah, that old sage-like wisdom.

But when someone actually studied those awkward water cooler political chats, they found out that they might actually help employees process stress, maybe even feel better at work.

So maybe do talk politics in the office.

But before opening your mouth, you're going to want to hear what management professor at Washington State University, Christine Kuhn, has to say.

Christine, welcome to the show.

So I've always treated workplace and politics, politics like the third rail.

Don't touch it.

Don't mention it.

You're going to get into a fight with your coworkers.

I've made the mistake of fighting with my coworkers about politics early in my career.

I think everyone sort of thinks this.

What made you want to study it to see if it actually was true?

And if most workplaces, this was a bad topic for discussion?

It does still seem a little counterintuitive for this very polarized political moment we look in, that you would talk about this with your co-workers, perhaps a current event, a politician did this, a country did this, and then feel less stressed walking away from it.

Why do you think that is?

And one thing I find fascinating is that, you know, you're not just randomly blurting out your opinions to someone who's wearing a shirt representing a politician you don't like or a hat.

It's finding people at work who are at least somewhat similar to you to share how you feel about events.

Is that the key takeaway?

Don't just talk politics, talk news with any random coworker.