Wired.com: Are our co-workers killing us?

Wired.com asks the question that’s on all of our minds. Are our co-workers killing us?

You know, they might tiptoe around us trying to avoid setting us off, but they’re not fooling us. They’re driving us to an early grave.

A new study by Arie Shirom at Tel Aviv University show that the risk of death correlates with the perceived niceness of co-workers, according to Wired. Less friendly colleagues were associated with a higher risk of dying.

The 20-year study controlled for conditions and behaviors such as high blood pressure, smoking and depression, and it still reached the unfair conclusion that if you’re surrounded by unfriendly types at work, you’re more likely to keel over.

The magazine explains that “people with little or no ‘peer social support’ in the workplace were 2.4 times more likely to die during the study, especially if they began the study between the ages of 38 and 43. In contrast, the niceness of the boss had little impact on mortality.”