Your Poker Face Can Cost You at Work

No matter what Lady Gaga says, a poker face can actually be a detriment to your work.

An international study recently found that workers who must avoid appearing either overly positive or negative -- such as journalists, health care professionals, social workers, lawyers, judges and law enforcement officers, have to spend so much time and effort showing no emotion that they have less energy to devote to the work at hand.

That's according to new research from Rice University, the University of Toronto, and Purdue University.

"Our study shows that emotion suppression takes a toll on people," said Daniel Beal, assistant professor of psychology at Rice and co-author of the study. "It takes energy to suppress emotions, so it's not surprising that workers who must remain neutral are often more rundown or show greater levels of burnout.