The people at work who make you sick

When researchers looked at how your workplace relationships affect your health, they found a group of people who can make you sick and actually cut short your life expectancy. And the group didn’t include your boss.

In fact, according to a study at Tel Aviv University, it’s your peers, the folks who work alongside you, who most influence your wellness and longevity.

“[P]eer social support, which could represent how well a participant is socially integrated in his or her employment context, is a potent predictor of the risk of all causes of mortality,” say the scientists.

The study also showed that men who feel like they control their workflow also enjoy better health, but that effect was not found in women.

The research analyzed the medical records of more than 800 people over a 20-year period from 1988 to 2008.