Dealing with rude or aggressive customers can understandably be frustrating for service workers, which may go on to affect their emotions and job performance.

To help workers navigate these difficult interactions and maintain their emotions and service quality, Lindsey Lee examined how a perspective-taking intervention influenced employees’ anger and empathy felt towards challenging customers.

Not only did perspective-taking reduce service workers’ anger, but it also increased their empathy for challenging customers, which made them more likely to provide discounts and other customer compensation.

Lee notes that perspective-taking exercises may be especially helpful to prepare employees for an especially high-volume and hectic shift.