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However, if you are a go-to listener for many of your coworkers, it would be wise to consider how often you lend your ear.

A team of researchers found that, in contrast to past research highlighting the downsides of venting, sharing frustrations with coworkers helps them become closer to each other.

"While it was clear that there could be a downside to venting, people may also start to develop a bond when they vent to each other," said Kristin Cullen-Lester, associate professor of management at the University of °Ç¸ç³Ô¹Ï . "This intrigued us and led us to question how venting influences our coworker relationships, which are so critical for the workplace."

Cullen-Lester worked with Susan Zhu, assistant professor of management at the University of Kentucky; Yimin He, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Georgia; and Pol Solanelles, assistant professor of management at the University of North Florida on the study, published in .

Previous studies examined the overall impact of venting for the person doing the talking or for the listener, Cullen-Lester said. But none of those studies examined how venting affected the dynamics of specific coworker relationships.

"Our work takes a different approach," she said. "We study venting occurring within ongoing workplace relationships using a social network lens.

"We're interested in how people are connected to one another and how those patterns of connection shape what happens in organizations."

The researchers focused on informal ties, those forged through conversations around the coffee machine, via Slack messages or over lunch.

"We believe that is where a lot of the real action happens – where frustrations are shared, advice is exchanged and close relationships are created," Cullen-Lester said.

Additionally, the researchers explored how personality traits such as conscientiousness can influence this dynamic, and expected that conscientious listeners would be more likely to offer advice to those who vent repeatedly, viewing it as part of their role, she said. Instead, they found that advice was more often given when the venter, not the listener, was conscientious.

"This suggests that listeners are selective in offering advice, reserving it for those, like conscientious coworkers, who are more likely to use it," Cullen-Lester said.

The purpose of the research is not to encourage more venting in the workplace, Zhu said. Rather, the researchers want to develop a more complete understanding of these complex dynamics by examining their long-term relational impact.

"As a researcher who is interested in interpersonal dynamics in the workplace, it's interesting to explore how the nature and quality of these relationships can shape how people behave toward each other or how effectively work gets done," Zhu said. "More importantly, these relationships are dynamic and evolving, which opens the door to exploring some really interesting research questions."

Workplaces need to recognize when venting is a healthy form of emotional expression and when it has crossed the line, the researchers said. Venting can have downsides, including rumination, repeatedly fixating on a problem, negative emotions and the transfer of those negative emotions to others, which can sometimes lead to mistreatment of coworkers.

At the same time, venting can be positive when it sparks an exchange of advice, as this study found, or when it helps employees gain a deeper understanding of the challenges they face, Cullen-Lester said.

"It is critical that organizations help employees understand that while there are benefits for their coworkers and the organization in them acting as a go-to listener for others, they need to ensure they are not that person for everyone," she said. "Our study found that people who are the 'go-to' listeners for many of their colleagues are actually less likely to provide advice to others."

As they move to the next phase, the team is particularly interested in whether people who listen to venting provide higher-quality advice, Zhu said.

"The idea is that the more someone hears your venting, the more they come to understand not just what's going wrong, but why it matters to you, putting them in a better position to offer nuanced, personally relevant guidance," she said.

Top: Being able to vent about challenges or concerns at work can bring emotional support and build camaraderie, but a new study indicates that both the person blowing off steam and the listener need to respect boundaries and exercise restraint at times. Illustration by Jordan Thweatt/University Marketing and Communications