It's the stupidest people in the office who use the most business jargon, study finds

Published: 01:09, 27 May 2026 | Updated: 01:10, 27 May 2026 Using business jargon in the office is a sign of lower intelligence, a study has found. Researchers say employees who are impressed by corporate 'waffle' score lower on tests of analytical thinking and problem solving. The findings, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, suggest people use the language to 'create inflated perceptions of [their] knowledge, skills, status, accomplishments, ideas, or agenda'. Phrases of choice include 'active stakeholder engagement' - which means going to talk to customers; and promising to 'leverage' something - meaning you are going to use it. Participants in the study, published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, were asked to rate different passages of text and were given a ranking on the Corporate Bull**** Receptivity Scale. People who scored higher were less likely to show signs of strong analytical thinking and were more likely to make bad business decisions. In one part of the experiment, the more than 1,000 office participants were given workplace scenarios. One scenario saw a restaurant introduce a new payment system. Participants were told they had spent weeks training staff on it - only for the IT department to cancel the upgrade because of bugs. Phrases of choice include 'active stakeholder engagement' - which means going to talk to customers; and promising to 'leverage' something - meaning you are going to use it (file image) Asked to choose the best response to staff angry at the wasted training, the highest-scoring option was to speak to IT to check if reverting the old system was the best option, consider alternatives, then explain the plan to staff to address their concerns. But those most impressed by corporate jargon were more likely to choose lower-scoring options such as going home and trying to fix the technical problems themselves. The study also found they liked their jobs more and had a better opinion of their bosses - and were more likely to be stirred by company mission statements and report being happy at work. 'Corporate bull****' is a term used by a growing number of academics to describe a style of communication typically padded out with buzzwords that make simple ideas harder to understand.  Shane Littrell, a cognitive psychologist at Cornell University, who created the scale, said the findings created a 'concerning cycle'. He added: 'Employees who are more likely to fall for corporate bull**** may help elevate the types of dysfunctional leaders who are more likely to use it, creating a sort of negative feedback loop.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.