Rudeness isn't a virus, but it spreads likes one in the workplace.

Researchers at the University of Florida found that the workplace can be a breeding ground for uncouth behavior. They found that encountering rude behavior at work makes people more likely to perceive rudeness in later interactions, which makes them more likely to be impolite in return, spreading rudeness like a virus.

"When you experience rudeness, it makes rudeness more noticeable," Trevor Foulk, lead author of the study, said in a statement. "You'll see more rudeness even if it's not there."

For the study, researchers tracked 90 graduate students practicing negotiation with classmates. Those who rated their initial negotiation partner as rude were more likely to be rated as rude by a subsequent partner, showing that they passed along the first partner's rudeness. The effect continued even when a week elapsed between the first and second negotiations.

Their findings provide evidence that everyday impoliteness spreads in the workplace.

"Part of the problem is that we are generally tolerant of these behaviors, but they're actually really harmful," Foulk said. "Rudeness has an incredibly powerful negative effect on the workplace."

They also found that just like those who experience rudeness firsthand, people who witness it were more likely to be rude to others.

When study participants watched a video of a rude workplace interaction, then answered a fictitious customer email that was neutral in tone, they were more likely to be hostile in their responses than those who viewed a polite interaction before responding.

"That tells us that rudeness will flavor the way you interpret ambiguous cues," Foulk said.

Foulk said he hopes the study will encourage employers to take incivility more seriously.

"You might go your whole career and not experience abuse or aggression in the workplace, but rudeness also has a negative effect on performance," he said. "It isn't something you can just turn your back on. It matters."

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Applied Psychology.