Performing badly at work? You can blame the 'Tiger Woods effect' where working alongside the employee of the month makes you slack off 工作表現不佳？都是“老虎伍茲”效應在作怪，同事中的月度最佳員工會讓你工作懈怠。

A brilliant employee should – in theory – be an inspiration to colleagues.理論上說，一位十分出色的雇員應該能激發其他同事的工作熱情。

But rather than raising their game, workmates put in a worse performance when in the presence of a high-flier, experts say.但專家的說法卻恰恰相反：如果公司有一位員工的表現異常出色，其他人的表現就會大打折扣。

They have called this phenomenon the Tiger Woods Effect after analysing the performances of golfers from 1999 to 2010 while Woods was far and away the world number one.1999年至2010年間，老虎伍茲稱得上是遙遙領先的世界第一高爾夫球手，專家分析研究了在這期間巡回賽上其他高爾夫球手們的表現，發現他們的表現有失水準，專家們把這一現象稱作“老虎伍茲效應”。

When he was at the peak of his powers, other top players shot worse scores in tournaments in which he participated than they did in similar events if he was absent, as if his presence inhibited them.在伍茲職業生涯的巔峰期，只要有他參加的比賽，其他頂尖球手就會表現不佳，而如果伍茲沒有參加比賽，這些球手就能夠正常發揮，如同伍茲的出現限制了他們的發揮。

And because of this, Woods earned around £4million more from these contests than he would have done if his rivals had played their normal game, economists found.經濟學家發現，正因如此，如果在這些比賽中，伍茲的對手們能夠正常發揮的話，他的獎金恐怕就要縮水400萬歐元。

The remarkable effect on golfers could apply just as much in a workplace, according to the researchers at Chicago’s Northwestern University.芝加哥西北大學的研究人員稱，這一顯著效應不光僅限于高爾夫球員，還同樣適用于工作場所。

In particular, the Tiger factor could affect offices where one worker keeps winning ‘employee of the month’ or regular bonuses for making the most sales.如果某位雇員總能贏得“本月最佳員工”，或者總能贏得最佳銷售業績獎金，老虎伍茲效應就會在辦公室里發生作用。

Instead of trying to compete, other staff – like Tiger’s opponents – simply stop trying as hard because they don’t think they are going to win.和伍茲的對手們一樣，其他員工不會再繼續努力、嘗試競爭，因為他們知道自己贏不了。

The report, published in the Journal of Political Economy, said: 'His superstar status hobbles the competition.'如同《政治經濟學雜志》報道中所說的：“他無可動搖的巨星地位讓競爭變得毫無意義。”

Northwestern economist Jennifer Brown said the same could apply in certain, competitive, office environments.西北大學經濟學家珍妮弗·布朗稱伍茲效應同樣適用于某些有競爭的辦公場合。

Her study added: 'For example, a company may reward its top monthly salesperson with some extra money or a prize - the idea being that competition increases everybody's effort.在她的研究中提到：“舉例來說，為了增加競爭、激勵雇員，公司可能會設立獎金或獎品，獎勵每月的銷售冠軍。”

'But what if one salesperson seems to win every month? The others might slack off, knowing they have little chance to take the prize.'“如果獲勝的總是同一個銷售員呢？其他人就會懈怠起來，因為他們知道自己沒什么機會贏得獎勵。”

On Tiger Woods she said: 'When Woods played in a tournament, other players shot nearly a full stroke higher.再說回到老虎伍茲：“有老虎伍茲參加的巡回賽上，其他球手完成比賽的桿數要比平常多接近一桿。”

'The effect was strongest among the top-ranked players, who would be in direct competition with Woods for the highest payouts.'“老虎伍茲效應在排名靠前的球手身上表現的更為明顯，因為他們是與伍茲競爭高額獎金的直接對手。”

The stats suggest they did not try harder because a higher number of riskier shots would have shown up in more double bogey and eagles 研究數據表明這些球手并沒有在比賽中努力求勝，如果他們求勝心強、冒險出桿，應該會打出更多的雙伯忌和老鷹球。

She said: 'We'd expect to see players hit more eagles and more double bogeys when playing against Woods, reflecting a high-risk, high-reward strategy.But that's not the case.她說道：“我們本以為這些球手在對上老虎伍茲時，會采取高風險高回報的策略，打出更多的老鷹球或雙伯忌。但實際情況恰恰相反。”

'There were significantly fewer eagles and double bogeys when Woods played."“伍茲參加的比賽中，老鷹球和雙伯忌的數量明顯比平常少。”

She added: 'By my estimates, Woods pocketed nearly $6 million in additional earnings because of the reduced effort of other golfers - prize money that would otherwise have been distributed to other players in the field.'她補充道：“據我估計，因為其他高爾夫球手無心戀戰，伍茲獲得了將近600萬美元的額外收入——其他高爾夫球手本有機會贏得這些獎金。”

The results suggest business should be more careful when trying to get their employees to be more competitive with each other, the study adds.研究結果表明，在引入員工競爭機制時，公司應該采取更加謹慎的態度。