humans are social beings that thrive on working in groups
throughout history, we have enhanced our chances of survival
by collectively sharing things such as resources, knowledge, and workloads
alternatively, isolation or rejection from a group
could have decreased our survival chances
as a result, our brain is highly aware of our ongoing social status
and possible threats or rewards to this
today, the workplace is one of the biggest social environments the brain experiences
our brain is constantly providing us with feedback on our social interactions with others
we need to know when things are working in our favour
or when our social situation may be under threat
Our brain interprets our social interactions
through the use of neural pathways and chemical messages
commonly used for pleasure and pain
for example, when our brain recognises potential rewards from a social interaction
it releases chemicals along the same neural pathways associated with pleasure
making us feel physically good
when we feel threatened, rejected, or taken advantage of
the same pathways that tell us we are in physical pain are activated
our brains don't always operate in isolation to one another
we often trigger a threat or reward response to the people around us
we may not even realise we are doing this
so the next time you interact with someone at work
consider what social messages you may be sending
and the impact you may be having on their brain