Caffeine might turn workers into slackers
Mar 28, 2012, 7:42 AM | Updated: 8:13 am
If you're among the millions of people who slurp coffee at work, research shows it might keep you alert but not necessarily productive. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
If you’re among the millions of people who slurp coffee at work, research shows it might keep you alert but not necessarily productive.
A team of psychologists at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, B.C., is testing how amphetamines and caffeine affect the motivation of workers and slackers.
After nine months of study, post-graduate student Jay Hosking says the early indications are that amphetamines cause workers to slack off and slackers to work harder.
Caffeine, on the other hand, causes workers to slack off but doesn’t appear to have any effect on those considered slackers.
Hosking says the results show that what works for some people may not work for others.
The research was done on 40 male rats. The findings could be relevant to workers such as long-distance truck drivers who use stimulants to remain vigilant.
The research is being published in the journal “Neuropsychopharmacology.”
