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What messages are headphones sending colleagues? It's a good question, and one that Harvard Business Review explores in this feature.

As well as looking at how people interpret headphones, and the signals that sends to the rest of the office, it offers steps in reducing ambiguity for those who use headphones regularly, managers with teams that like wearing them, and fellow colleagues who work alongside people wearing them.

Research: What Message Are Your Headphones Sending Your Coworkers? Music listening in the workplace is an inherently ambiguous behavior that triggers specific social judgments from colleagues. When coworkers attribute a person’s music use to leisure or personal enjoyment rather than a tool for productivity, they perceive that individual as significantly less enga...