We don’t have to be best friends with our colleagues and our managers, but getting along with them sure makes things go a whole lot smoother. Our basic human need to socialize and create friendships gives us a sense of belonging, meaning, and confidence. Pretty much everyone wants to be in a healthy work environment to feel more at ease in our daily lives. More often than not, however, that’s not the case.

A recent study by GoodHire surveyed 3000 full-time working Americans from some of the most popular job sectors — education, finance and insurance, healthcare, hospitality, and more. The aim was to learn more about the difficult relationship between managers and their employees. The researchers asked people to share true feelings about their managers, how the supervisors could improve, and what kind of management characteristics workers hate most.

Surprisingly, the results revealed that 70 percent of American workers said they strongly or somewhat enjoy working for their managers. Quite unexpected, right? However, 82 percent would potentially quit their job because of a bad boss.

When it comes to the worst manager traits, "respondents said they are most irritated by a manager who is overbearing and micromanages, as well as a manager who expects them to work outside of working hours."

Plus, it’s extremely hard when management does not respect your personal time. GoodHire revealed that just 46 percent of all American workers feel their manager respects their time away from work. "This is a true red flag in the workplace and can lead to the demise of any sort of work-life balance, especially in this new world of remote working in which employees are constantly in close proximity to their 'office.'"

As they say, there’s only so much a person can take. And horrible bosses know how to test our patience. While some people choose to quit right there on the spot, for others this decision is a long time coming. After all, if you’re unhappy at work, feel constantly depleted by your job, or self-diagnose yourself with the "can’t get out of bed in the morning" syndrome, you’re not able to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

Elizabeth Sullivan, a career coach based in the UK, told Bored Panda in a previous interview that some bosses show far less value, respect, and appreciation for their staff than others. "Some people are less sensitive, they may not even realize that what they are saying is disrespectful to other people. Some are unkind, uncaring, negative, unappreciative, or even toxic. And there’s also the bullies who take out their own issues and unhappiness on others."

When asked about dealing with such bosses, she said everything depends on whether you enjoy your position or not. "It can be worth trying to address it if you like the job and would otherwise stay. But there is a big difference between constructive criticism and harmful comments at work. You need the former to grow, the latter just needs to go," she said.

Remember, if you’re getting negative and hurtful comments from your employer, that’s not acceptable. "Everyone should feel respected and safe at their place of work. It may be important to evaluate whether the comments are specific to the company culture, the boss, or something else." You can try addressing the issue with your superior using the when you do this, I feel that formula: "When you make personal comments like that, I feel insulted, can you please stop doing that," Sullivan suggested.

Everyone deserves appreciation and respect, and we do not have to tolerate frustrating situations as they can damage our health and well-being. "Address it and see if you can change it. Namely, is it a pattern specific to your manager or your workplace generally? If, for example, it was just specific to your manager, it’s worth asking for more regular feedback including positive acknowledgment."

"If you speak to the person using the [when you do this, I feel that] formula and the situation doesn’t change, depending on the source of the behavior and how comfortable you feel, consider bringing in an ally, a mentor, or HR. Taking larger action may be worth considering. Or even looking for a job in another department or company," the career coach added.

When you witness other people standing up for themselves and see how they did it, it can inspire you to do the same. While we should not stoop to our awful boss’s level by becoming aggressive or insulting, it’s important to know your worth and take a stand against injustices. After all, people will underestimate you if you allow them to.

"Remember that you are valuable, worthy, and enough, regardless of whether one particular person (an unappreciative, toxic, or negative boss) or even a group of people see you that way or not," Sullivan concluded.