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1 – 10 of over 1000Piotr Stapinski, Brita Bjørkelo, Premilla D'Cruz, Eva G. Mikkelsen and Malgorzata Gamian-Wilk
The purpose of the article is to provide further evidence for the work environment hypothesis. According to the work environment hypothesis and as documented by empirical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the article is to provide further evidence for the work environment hypothesis. According to the work environment hypothesis and as documented by empirical evidence, organizational factors play a crucial role in the development of workplace bullying. However, to better understand and prevent bullying at work and establish sustainable, responsible and ethical workplaces, it is crucial to understand which organizational factors are particularly important in the development of bullying and how these factors, independently and combined, act as precursors to bullying over time. One prominent theory that explains how organizational and individual factors interact is the affective events theory (AET).
Design/methodology/approach
In a two-wave, time-lagged study (N = 364), the authors apply AET to test and explain the interplay of organizational factors in the development of bullying at work.
Findings
The results revealed that supportive and fair leadership moderates the relationship between role stress and exposure to workplace bullying.
Practical implications
Knowledge of the buffering role of supportive and fair leadership practices is important when implementing organizational interventions aimed at preventing bullying at work.
Originality/value
Although previous studies have shown the general protecting effects of supportive leadership on exposure to bullying, the current study indicates that high level of supportive and fair leadership practices decreases the level of exposure to bullying, even when role ambiguity and role conflict are relatively high.
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Iselin Reknes, Mats Glambek and Ståle Valvatne Einarsen
Intention to leave as an outcome of exposure to workplace bullying is well documented in previous studies, yet, research on explanatory conditions for such an association is…
Abstract
Purpose
Intention to leave as an outcome of exposure to workplace bullying is well documented in previous studies, yet, research on explanatory conditions for such an association is lacking.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study investigates the relationship between injustice perceptions, exposure to bullying behaviors and turnover intention, employing a moderated mediation analysis based on a reanalysis and extension of data gathered among a sample of Norwegian bus drivers (N = 1, 024).
Findings
As hypothesized, injustice perceptions were indirectly related to intention to leave via workplace bullying, however, only under conditions of higher perceived injustice levels.
Practical implications
The results underscore the importance of preventing workplace bullying and of maintaining ample levels of justice at work, where employees are treated with fairness and respect.
Originality/value
The study adds important knowledge to the bullying literature by focusing on the role of mechanisms and moderators in bullying situations, investigating how the combination of workplace bullying and injustice perceptions is reflected in employees' intention to leave the organization.
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Mona Berthelsen, Anders Skogstad, Bjørn Lau and Ståle Einarsen
This study aims to explore relationships between exposure to bullying at work and intention to leave the organisation, actual leaving the workplace, and exclusion from working…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore relationships between exposure to bullying at work and intention to leave the organisation, actual leaving the workplace, and exclusion from working life through sick leave or rehabilitation or disability pension.
Design/methodology/approach
A prospective design with two surveys of a national representative sample of the Norwegian work force was used (n=1,775). The response rate at the first data collection in 2005 was 56.4 per cent, and 70 per cent at the second data collection in 2007. Bullying was measured using two measurement methods: self‐labelled victims of bullying and exposure to bullying behaviour, respectively.
Findings
This study shows partial support for Leymann's assumption that bullying at work will lead to exclusion from working life. Logistic regressions showed that victims of bullying considered leaving their work more often than did individuals who were not bullied, on both measurement times. The results also showed that victims have changed employer more often than non‐victims. However, most victims are still working full time or part time two years later.
Practical implications
Prevention of workplace bullying must be handled through procedures on an organisational level. Rehabilitation programs and reintegration must be offered for employees unable to stay in their job. Counselling should be available for those who experience bullying or consider leaving their job.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study examining bullying, intention to leave, turnover and exclusion from working life with a prospective longitudinal design.
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Anders Skogstad, Stig Berge Matthiesen and Stale Einarsen
In the present paper direct as well as indirect relationships between organizational changes and exposure to bullying at work are investigated. Interpersonal conflicts are…
Abstract
In the present paper direct as well as indirect relationships between organizational changes and exposure to bullying at work are investigated. Interpersonal conflicts are hypothesized to mediate changes on bullying. Data from a sample of 2408 Norwegian employees confirmed that different organizational changes were moderately associated with task-related bullying at work, and that exposure to more changes increased the likelihood of being bullied. Structural equation modelling supported the assumption that changes were directly related to bullying. However, the hypothesis that changes were mediated on bullying through interpersonal conflicts was not supported. Results indicate that organizational changes and interpersonal conflicts are separate, and mainly independent, precursors of bullying at work.
Despite the well-established association between workplace bullying and turnover intentions, the mechanisms underlying this relationship and its boundary conditions remain…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the well-established association between workplace bullying and turnover intentions, the mechanisms underlying this relationship and its boundary conditions remain understudied. The purpose of this paper is to examine employee affective well-being as a mediating mechanism by which exposure to workplace bullying may trigger employee intentions to leave the workplace. It also aims to explore the role of national culture in moderating the effects of workplace bullying on employee well-being and turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is conducted through a cross-cultural analysis of data obtained from 627 Australian and Pakistani employees.
Findings
The findings reveal that exposure to workplace bullying triggers turnover intentions through its negative effect on affective well-being in cross-cultural/national contexts. However, national culture moderates these effects such that the effects of workplace bullying on well-being and turnover intentions are weaker for Pakistanis than for Australians.
Originality/value
This paper reports original research that deepens the understanding of how, why and when exposure to workplace bullying will prompt employees to leave the workplace in a cross-national context. The research findings will assist international organisations in designing strategies tailored to the national culture in order to mitigate the adverse effects of workplace bullying on staff turnover.
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Dirk De Clercq, Tasneem Fatima and Sadia Jahanzeb
This study seeks to unpack the relationship between employees' exposure to workplace bullying and their turnover intentions, with a particular focus on the possible mediating role…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to unpack the relationship between employees' exposure to workplace bullying and their turnover intentions, with a particular focus on the possible mediating role of perceived organizational politics and moderating role of creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested with multi-source, multi-wave data collected from employees and their peers in various organizations.
Findings
Workplace bullying spurs turnover intentions because employees believe they operate in strongly politicized organizational environments. This mediating role of perceived organizational politics is mitigated to the extent that employees can draw from their creative skills though.
Practical implications
For managers, this study pinpoints a critical reason – employees perceive that they operate in an organizational climate that endorses dysfunctional politics – by which bullying behaviors stimulate desires to leave the organization. It also reveals how this process might be contained by spurring employees' creativity.
Originality/value
This study provides novel insights into the process that underlies the connection between workplace bullying and quitting intentions by revealing the hitherto overlooked roles of employees' beliefs about dysfunctional politics and their own creativity levels.
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Michael Rosander and Denise Salin
In this paper the authors argue that organizational climate and workplace bullying are connected, intertwined and affect each other. More precisely, the focus of the present study…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper the authors argue that organizational climate and workplace bullying are connected, intertwined and affect each other. More precisely, the focus of the present study is how a hostile climate at work is related to workplace bullying. A hostile work climate is defined as an affective organizational climate permeated by distrust, suspicion and antagonism. The authors tested four hypotheses about the reciprocal effects and possible gender differences.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a longitudinal probability sample of the Swedish workforce (n = 1,095). Controlling for age, the authors used structural equation modelling and cross-lagged structural regression models to assess the reciprocal effects of a hostile work climate on workplace bullying. Gender was added as a moderator to test two of the hypotheses.
Findings
The results showed a strong reciprocal effect, meaning there were significant associations between a hostile work climate and subsequent bullying, β = 0.12, p = 0.007, and between baseline bullying and a subsequent hostile work climate, β = 0.15, p = 0.002. The forward association between a hostile work climate and bullying depended on gender, β = −0.23, p < 0.001.
Originality/value
The findings point to a possible vicious circle where a hostile work climate increases the risk of bullying, which in turn risks creating an even more hostile work climate. Furthermore, the findings point to gender differences in bullying, showing that the effect of a hostile work climate on workplace bullying was stronger for men.
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Sadia Jahanzeb, Tasneem Fatima and Dirk De Clercq
With a basis in affective events theory, this study aims to investigate the mediating role of anger in the relationship between employees’ exposure to workplace bullying and their…
Abstract
Purpose
With a basis in affective events theory, this study aims to investigate the mediating role of anger in the relationship between employees’ exposure to workplace bullying and their engagement in deviant behaviours, as well as the invigorating role of their neuroticism in this process.
Design/methodology/approach
Three-wave, time-lagged data were collected from employees and their peers in a sample of Pakistani organizations.
Findings
Workplace bullying spurs interpersonal and organizational deviance because it prompts feelings of anger in employees. This mechanism is more prominent among employees with high levels of neuroticism.
Originality/value
This study reveals that the experience of anger is a key feature by which bullying behaviours steer employees towards counterproductive work behaviours, and this harmful process is more likely to escalate when employees’ personality makes them more vulnerable to emotional distress.
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Saima Ahmad, Rukhsana Kalim and Ahmad Kaleem
Despite an extensive history of research into workplace bullying and the psychosomatic harm associated with it in western contexts, research into the occurrence and manifestation…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite an extensive history of research into workplace bullying and the psychosomatic harm associated with it in western contexts, research into the occurrence and manifestation of bullying behavior in the academic workplaces of non-western countries is sparse. In response to this gap, the purpose of this paper is to start a research conversation by reporting an empirical enquiry into the occurrence, forms and perceptions of workplace bullying among academics in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted with a representative sample of academics in a large Pakistani province through a cross-sectional survey.
Findings
This study reveals that workplace bullying is prevalent among academics in the Pakistani context, with up to half of them regularly exposed to practices such as excessive work monitoring, undermining of professional competence, lack of recognition of work contributions and obstruction of important work-related matters.
Research limitations/implications
The findings underscore the need for developing broader institutional actions, clear policies and grievance procedures to discourage bullying at work in Pakistan. Higher educational managers will find the results useful for development of anti-bullying policies and codes of conduct.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine the perceptions, occurrence and demographic risk factors associated with workplace bullying among academics in the Pakistani context.
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Michelle R. Tuckey, Yiqiong Li and Peter Y. Chen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between job characteristics of both leaders and followers and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of transformational leadership on the relationship between job characteristics of both leaders and followers and workplace bullying within the workgroup. The central hypotheses were that, in a process of resource erosion, leaders’ task demands would be positively associated with workplace bullying in the workgroup, but that transformational leadership would moderate this effect, and the effect of followers’ autonomy on bullying.
Design/methodology/approach
Anonymous surveys were completed by 540 volunteer fire-fighters’ from 68 fire brigades and, separately, by 68 brigade captains.
Findings
The multi-level analyses show that leaders’ task demands positively predicted both bullying outcomes, after controlling for followers’ emotional demands and autonomy. Of most interest, transformational leadership moderated the influence of leaders’ task demands and followers’ autonomy on workplace bullying assessed by two approaches: self-labeling and behavioral experience. Further, a significant three-way interaction demonstrated that transformational leadership is actually associated with higher bullying as followers’ emotional demands increase under conditions wherein followers’ autonomy is constrained, but not when followers’ autonomy is high.
Practical implications
This study offers important practical implications in terms of leadership development in bullying prevention and reduction. For transformational leadership to be effective in reducing bullying at work, the situation must be matched to support this leadership style, or bullying could actually increase.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the research on workplace bullying by advancing the understanding of organizational factors that can influence bullying at work. The study also provides the first quantitative evidence of a relationship between the demands faced by leaders and the bullying experienced by members of the workgroup.
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