{"id":343,"date":"2018-05-22T19:26:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T19:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/?p=343"},"modified":"2025-05-30T16:01:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:01:27","slug":"your-coworkers-really-are-more-likable-after-coffee-science-confirms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/22\/your-coworkers-really-are-more-likable-after-coffee-science-confirms\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Coworkers Really Are More Likable After Coffee, Science Confirms"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
\"rawpixel-659493-unsplash.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Coffee can make meetings tolerable<\/del>\u00a0more productive \u2013 and positive<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Coffee Brews Better Group Performance, UC Davis Study Finds<\/h3>\n

First Research on the Effects of Caffeine on Group Work<\/span><\/h4>\n

The following post was originally published by UC Davis News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

By Brad Hooker and Julia Ann Easley\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Planning a meeting? Serving coffee can focus group discussion, boost involvement and leave members feeling better about their own and others\u2019 participation.<\/p>\n

Those are the findings of new research on the effects of caffeine on group performance from the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n

Decades of coffee research have explored its effects on the individual, but this study is the first on the effects on performance in group tasks.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at where coffee\u2019s being consumed, a significant amount happens in group settings,\u201d says\u00a0Rao Unnava<\/a>, dean of the management school and co-author of the study with\u00a0Vasu Unnava<\/a>, an adjunct assistant professor at the school and his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoffee With Co-workers: Role of Caffeine on Evaluations of the Self and Others in Group Settings<\/a>,\u201d is the first research study by management school professors to be published in the\u00a0Journal of Psychopharmacology,\u00a0<\/em>an international scientific journal.<\/p>\n

Caffeine and group performance<\/h3>\n

The Unnavas and their research partner, Amit Singh, a graduate student at The Ohio State University, conducted two experiments, each involving about 70 undergraduates, at a large Midwestern university.<\/p>\n

In the first experiment, small groups had coffee together about 30 minutes before discussing an article about the Occupy movement and making recommendations about the topic\u2019s inclusion in a competition for discussion topics in graduate school. Other groups had their coffee after the discussion.<\/p>\n

Participants who had the coffee before the discussion rated their groups\u2019 and their own performance more positively.<\/p>\n

One question about the act of drinking coffee nagged the researchers:<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it the caffeine in the coffee or the simple act of consuming coffee together than made people feel positive?\u201d Vasu Unnava wondered.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"rawpixel-648563-unsplash.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Drinking coffee is linked to more positive attitudes and alertness<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More relevant discussion<\/h3>\n

In the second experiment, all the participants had a cup of coffee together before the discussions. But some groups got caffeinated coffee, and others got decaffeinated coffee.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the results of the first experiment, the groups who had the caffeinated coffee rated their own participation and their attitude toward group members more positively than those who had the decaffeinated coffee. They also expressed more of a willingness to work with the group again and a higher level of alertness.<\/p>\n

Additionally, coding of audio recordings from the discussions showed that the groups that had caffeinated coffee generated more statements relevant to the topic.<\/p>\n

Rather than proclaiming caffeine as the ultimate catalyst for better group work, the researchers pointed to the increased level of alertness as being the mechanism for the positive effects.<\/p>\n

Advancing coffee science<\/h3>\n

The new study adds to the body of research being done at the new\u00a0UC Davis Coffee Center<\/a>, the first multidisciplinary university research center to address the challenges and needs of the coffee industry through a holistic approach to coffee science and education.<\/p>\n

Related reading & resources<\/h3>\n

Is serving coffee the secret to a productive meeting?<\/a>
\n<\/strong>The Daily Mail\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

[WEBINAR] Office Coffee Service Market: Context and Opportunities<\/strong><\/a>*
\nOn-Demand for NCA Members<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coffee can make meetings tolerable\u00a0more productive \u2013 and positive Coffee Brews Better Group Performance, UC Davis Study Finds First Research on the Effects of Caffeine on Group Work The following post was originally published by UC Davis News By Brad Hooker and Julia Ann Easley\u00a0 \u00a0 Planning a meeting? Serving coffee can focus group discussion, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-caffeine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":347,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcustomhomes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}