Job demands, health, and absenteeism: does bullying make things worse?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine workplace bullying as a potential moderator (or exacerbator) in the relationship between job demands and physical, mental and behavioral strain.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from a cross-section of 262 employees were collected using a range of measures and hierarchical moderated regressions were performed to examine the interactive effects of job demands and workplace bullying on physical exhaustion, depression, and medically certified and uncertified absenteeism.

Findings

The results revealed that workplace bullying significantly exacerbated the effects of job demands on physical exhaustion, depression, and uncertified absenteeism.

Research limitations/implications

The study utilized a cross-sectional self-report survey research design which does not permit causal inferences to be made. Longitudinal research is needed to further investigate these relationships reported here.

Practical implications

Managers should seek to minimize workplace bullying as well as excessive job demands to help alleviate the risk of employees developing negative health outcomes.

Originality/value

The study investigated how different categories of stressors interact with each other to predict various health outcomes or forms of job strains.

Citation

Devonish, D. (2014), "Job demands, health, and absenteeism: does bullying make things worse?", Employee Relations, Vol. 36 No. 2, pp. 165-181. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-01-2013-0011