Examining workplace bullying-outcomes relationships among Indian managers: Psychological contract violation as mediator and workplace friendship as moderator

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between workplace bullying and employee outcomes (intention to quit (ITQ), job satisfaction and work engagement) with psychological contract violation (PCV) as mediator and workplace friendship as moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 835 full-time Indian managerial employees working in different Indian organizations.

Findings

Results revealed that PCV mediated bullying-outcomes (ITQ, job satisfaction and work engagement) relationship and effects of workplace bullying on proposed outcomes were weaker in the presence of high workplace friendship.

Research limitations/implications

A cross-sectional design and use of self-reported questionnaire data are a limitation of this study. As the study did not cover all sectors, the results of this study should be interpreted with caution.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is rare attempts to examine the mediating role of PCV and the moderating role of workplace friendship in bullying-outcomes relationships. This study also contributes in terms of its context and sample.

Citation

Rai, A. and Agarwal, U.A. (2018), "Examining workplace bullying-outcomes relationships among Indian managers: Psychological contract violation as mediator and workplace friendship as moderator", Employee Relations, Vol. 40 No. 6, pp. 1015-1035. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-02-2017-0031