Been awhile since Joe, the tightly wound co-worker, slammed his keyboard against the desk? Been even longer since Mary, the micromanager, had an outburst?

In a man-bites-dog kind of story, new research shows workplace stress — you ready for this? — has dropped 23 percent since 2000.

Among the most de-stressed are workers with children, who saw a 20 percent decrease in office tension. Women's stress levels fell slightly more (16 percent) than men (13 percent). But overall, the office seems to be just one happy place.

To compare apples to apples, the researchers took a list of questions asked of American employees in 2000 and asked the same questions in 2007.

Besides the drop in overall stress, the study found office yelling had fallen 13 percent. Physical violence and being driven to tears because of a workplace incident dropped as well.

The decrease, in part, is because many companies are offering a more family-friendly, flexible worklife. Even more important are the employees, who have taken it upon themselves to de-stress. More exercise, yoga and Pilates. More demands to employers to help workers balance their lives.

I read the report and had to ask: Is this for real?

No matter how positively you try to explain the research to workers, they aren't buying it. After all, they still feel major stress. Maybe they just don't realize it's not as bad as it was.

I asked around and found very few who could say they are much less stressed.

While at the mall, I zeroed in on a group of four working women eating lunch at the food court, three of whom were mothers, and asked if they feel less stressed today than in years past.

"No," says Kelly White. "I don't think there is any way around it. Work is intense."

"It's the number one stress cause in my life," says Mindy Carlson.

Still, they did concede that their employer, whom they wouldn't name, is making improvements to relieve the stress, offering more flexible hours and demanding less overtime.

Carol Janson was the sole member of the group who said she could wholeheartedly agree with the study's findings.

"I have noticed less fighting and bickering and overall defensiveness in our office," she says. "I know my hair isn't as gray as it was five years ago."

"Hair color," White said.