Don’t let those stiffs from HR tell you office romances are bad for business. No, you just point them right to this Sun article that says as long as you’re not sued for harassment (I’m talking to you, creepy, who’s going to follow this advice right into a cardboard box and a security escort), sex with coworkers actually results in raised energy levels, better professional capacity, and higher productivity.
What, exactly, it produces the article doesn’t say, but I’m going to fall back on my undergrad and say the usual love-drugs: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin (which are the body’s natural supply of cocaine, prozac, and addiction), along with some other things I shouldn’t mention because they’re gross.
The Sun article cites a study by “Italian sexologist” Serenella Salomoni, who found that 20% of poll respondents admitted to an affair at work, and that they were “happier, more energetic, and more productive.”
Except for men, who often fell asleep on the job afterward. Just kidding. That’s not what she said.
The Italian sexologist actually said that women were nearly twice as likely to have an office fling as men were, and a third admitted to having an affair to advance their career.
I have a few questions that aren’t addressed in the Sun’s post.
- An Italian sexologist? First, how does one earn the title of “sexologist?” Second, doesn’t that sound like part of a bad pickup line from a Rocky-wannabe: “Hey yo, Shirley, what ya doin for the next 10 minutes or somethin’ like dat?”
- Where can I find this study? Sun doesn’t link to it, and has been duped before. Google News brings back the Sun article, and a Washington Post blog that bit, hook-line-and-sinker, and linked back to the Sun article, the only place the info appears to be.
- How do I know Serenella Salomoni is a professional sexologist, or which sexology organization she’s with? Google Scholar brought back some results for Salomoni, which were in Italian, which I can’t read, unless I pretend it’s a blend of French and Spanish and use them to decipher, which never works so well.
- Were these European or American women having all that sex at the office? That’s important because I know a few guys that will be applying across the Pond tout d’suite.
- Is this going to affect our team-building activities? Because the three-legged race is already more intimate than I want to get with some people.
