????如今，人們只需要在Facebook上點擊幾下鼠標，就能看到辦公室同事新年出糗的照片或老板豪華度假的細節，個人信息與工作信息之間的界限變得日益模糊。

????雖然人們越來越樂意和同事乃至全世界分享個人信息，但是有一個話題始終屬于禁忌范疇——薪水。

????一直以來，人們都認為談錢會讓人感覺不舒服，但也并非是讓薪水話題成為私密談話的社會準則。婦女政策研究協會（the Institute for Women's Policy Research）2011年的一份報告指出，約有一半的美國員工表示，雇主明令禁止或強烈反對他們與同事討論薪水問題。

????即使討論薪水不會違反規定，專家仍然告誡人們不要與同事議論薪水標準。職業生涯教練卡林?羅肯德表示，例如，“如果被管理人員發現，這會讓人覺得你對工作不滿意，導致事與愿違的結果。”

????職業生涯專家卡羅琳?塞尼薩－萊文是《勇猛戰勝恐懼：艱難時代的成功秘訣》（How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times）一書的聯合作者。她把議論薪水問題比作在辦公室約會。“你總能找到適合討論薪水的理由，”她說。“但是在大多數情況下，結果會很糟糕。所以，要謹慎對待。”

????羅肯德強調，討論薪水問題通常會引發失望情緒，降低工作滿意度。她說：“如果發現同事的薪水比你高，你馬上就會覺得自己的工作非常糟糕，當然還有你的老板。” A study by the美國國家經濟調查局（the National Bureau of Economic Research）2010年9月公布的一項研究也得出了同樣的結論。研究人員隨意為加利福尼亞大學（University of California employees）的員工提供訪問大學員工薪水信息網站的權限。雖然有些員工發現自己的薪水低于平均水平，從而降低了工作滿意度，但是對于那些發現薪水高于平均水平的員工而言，他們的工作滿意度并沒有得到相應的提高。

????美國Soluna學會創始人、企業行為心理學專家帕梅拉?蒂加登表示，因為許多公司以所謂的“囚徒困境”模式運營，經常出現員工攀比薪水的情況。 “為了謀求晉升和勝利，（同事）之間沒有合作，相反，他們不得不相互比較，相互競爭。” 蒂加登認為，對比薪水只會加劇這種狀況，削弱團隊為了實現目標共同奮斗的能力。為了避免這一問題，她建議雇主重視其他非貨幣形式的“外在激勵因素”，例如鼓勵同事成為朋友，重視員工的意見等。

????羅肯德也看重這一非貨幣形式的方法。“人們認為錢能帶來幸福，”羅肯德說。“但是事實恰恰相反。錢不能帶來幸福，而幸福的人卻能賺更多的錢。”

????In a time where your office mate's embarrassing New Year's photos or the details of your boss's lavish vacation are just a few Facebook clicks away, the lines between personal information and workplace knowledge are getting fuzzier everyday.

????Despite a growing willingness to share private information with colleagues -- and the world -- one topic remains safely nestled in the taboo column: compensation.

????Money talk has long been considered uncouth, but it's not just social norms that have kept such conversations in the dark. According to a 2011 report from the Institute for Women's Policy Research, almost half of all American workers are either expressly prohibited or strongly discouraged by their employers from discussing their pay with coworkers.

????Even when it's not against the rules, experts warn against bringing up the pay scale with people in your office. For one, says career coach Carin Rockind, "if management ever found out, it makes you look dissatisfied and could backfire."

????Caroline Ceniza-Levine, a career expert and co-author of How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times, compares salary talk to dating in the workplace. "You can always find examples where it's a good idea," she says. "But for the most part, it ends badly. So you have to proceed with caution."

????Rockind emphasizes that these conversations usually lead to disappointment and lower job satisfaction. "Should you find out someone is making more money than you, it will immediately make you feel worse about your job and worse about your manager," she says.

????A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research published in September, 2010 reached the same conclusion. The researchers gave a random set of University of California employees access to a website that listed University workers' salary information. While workers who discovered that they made less than average ultimately reported lower job satisfaction, there was no reciprocal increase in reported satisfaction among those who found out that their earnings were above average.

????Pamela Teagarden, founder of the Soluna Institute and an expert in corporate behavioral psychology, says that salary comparison conversations often arise because most workplaces operate in what is known as a "Prisoner's Dilemma." "Rather than cooperating, [colleagues are] forced to compare and compete because everyone is trying for the next promotion, for the win." Comparing salaries only reinforces that dynamic, undermining a team's ability to work together toward a common goal, Teagarden argues. To avoid this problem, Teagarden recommends that companies focus on other, non-monetary, "extrinsic motivators," like encouraging friendship among coworkers and valuing employees' opinions.

????Rockind also emphasizes this non-monetary approach. "There's a belief in our society that money leads to happiness," Rockind says. "But it's actually the other way around: It's not that money leads to happiness, it's that happy people make more money."