For many of us, the idea of professional networking conjures unctuous thoughts of pressing the flesh with potential employers, laughing at unfunny jokes, and pretending to enjoy ourselves.

No wonder a recent study found that professional networking makes people feel unclean, so much so that they subconsciously crave cleansing products.

The study, titled The Contaminating Effects of Building Instrumental Ties: How Networking Can Make Us Feel Dirty, appeared in the December 2014 issue of Administrative Science Quarterly.

“Even when people know networking is beneficial to their careers, they often don’t do it,” says Francesca Gino, a professor in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit at Harvard Business School, who coauthored the study with Tiziana Casciaro (Rotman School, University of Toronto) and Maryam Kouchaki (Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.)

“From an academic perspective, we thought we could advance the theory of networks by looking at the psychological consequences of networking.” Read it here