Healthy Workplace Talk Quiz: Are Your Work Conversations Positive?

Workplace conversations often get a bad reputation, but not all talk about absent colleagues is harmful. In fact, research suggests that positive discussions—such as praising a coworker or defending someone who isn’t present—can play a powerful role in building trust, cooperation, and shared norms at work.

This quiz is inspired by organizational psychology research on workplace gossip, but it has been adapted for everyday use. Rather than focusing on malicious rumors, it looks specifically at how often your conversations reflect appreciation, respect, and fairness toward others. Understanding these tendencies can help you become more intentional about how your words shape team culture and psychological safety.

If you’re interested in how communication styles affect relationships more broadly, you may also want to explore the Passive Aggression Scale or the Psychological Safety Scale, which examine related interpersonal dynamics.