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1 – 10 of over 4000Zubair Akram, Abdul Gaffar Khan, Umair Akram, Saima Ahmad and Lynda Jiwen Song
While the rapid adoption of information communication technologies (ICT) in organizations has been linked with a higher risk of cyberbullying, research on the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
While the rapid adoption of information communication technologies (ICT) in organizations has been linked with a higher risk of cyberbullying, research on the influence of cyberbullying on interpersonal behaviors in the workplace remains limited. By drawing on the ego-depletion theory and the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, this research investigates how, why and when workplace cyberbullying may trigger interpersonal aggression through ICT.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from 259 employees and 62 supervisors working in large ICT organizations in China through a multi-wave survey. The authors performed multilevel analysis and used hierarchical linear modeling to test the proposed moderated mediation model.
Findings
The results revealed that workplace cyberbullying has a significant and positive influence on interpersonal aggression in the workplace via ego depletion. The authors found that differentiation in LMX processes at group level moderates the indirect relationship between workplace cyberbullying and interpersonal aggression (via ego depletion). Furthermore, the positive indirect effect of workplace cyberbullying was found to be stronger in the presence of a high LMX differentiation condition in comparison to a low LMX differentiation condition.
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected from Chinese ICT organizations, which may limit the generalization of this study’s findings to other cultural and sectoral contexts.
Originality/value
This paper provides the first step in understanding how, why and when workplace cyberbullying triggers interpersonal aggression by investigating the role of ego depletion as a mediator and LMX differentiation as a boundary condition. This is the first study to empirically examine the relationships between workplace cyberbullying, ego depletion, LMX differentiation and interpersonal aggression in ICT organizations using multi-level modeling.
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Anurag Singh and Neelam Waldia
This study examines the impact of interpersonal conflict on workplace aggression. Moreover, the moderating role in the association between interpersonal conflict and workplace…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the impact of interpersonal conflict on workplace aggression. Moreover, the moderating role in the association between interpersonal conflict and workplace aggression has been examined.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is grounded on the cognitive appraisal theory, which posits that interpersonal conflict contributes to aggression in the workplace. A sample of n = 250 employees from the steel industry in India was selected in two waves. The authors utilized Hayes' PROCESS macro v4.1 for path analysis.
Findings
The research reveals that interpersonal conflict is positively and significantly related to workplace aggression. Moreover, organizational climate is negatively associated with workplace aggression. The moderation analysis has revealed that organizational climate negatively moderates the relationship between interpersonal conflict and workplace aggression.
Practical implications
This study suggests that recognizing the significance of the organizational climate, companies can proactively curtail the progression of disputes into hostile behaviors. Nurturing a positive workplace climate becomes paramount, as it acts as a buffer against conflict escalation. Educating both staff and managers about the diverse forms of aggression and implementing appropriate protocols to address such behaviors are crucial steps toward fostering a positive climate.
Originality/value
This study provides new insights into the existing literature on workplace aggression, interpersonal conflict and organizational climate for future research.
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Jessica Holley, James Tapp and Simon Draycott
Coercive practices – which are used as means to manage violent/aggressive behaviour in secure forensic settings – have come under scrutiny in recent years due to their paradoxical…
Abstract
Purpose
Coercive practices – which are used as means to manage violent/aggressive behaviour in secure forensic settings – have come under scrutiny in recent years due to their paradoxical effects on provoking further service user aggression and violence. Previous research has found relationships between increased service user aggression with both service users’ interpersonal styles and perceptions of staff coercion (i.e. staff limit setting). This paper aims to investigate whether forensic service users’ levels of interpersonal sensitivity to dominance increase levels of self-reported anger and rates of aggression towards staff through perceptions of staff coercion.
Design/methodology/approach
In a cross-sectional quantitative study design, 70 service users were recruited from one high and two medium secure forensic hospitals. Standardised measures were completed by service users and recorded incident data was collected within the past year. Correlation and mediation analyses were run to investigate the relationship between study variables.
Findings
A significant relationship was found between service users’ interpersonal sensitivity to dominance and self-reported rates of anger, where forensic service users’ who had higher levels of interpersonal sensitivity to others’ dominance were likely to report higher rates of anger. No significant relationships were found between all other study variables.
Practical implications
The findings from this study contradict previous research where coercive practices may not necessarily increase rates of aggression towards staff but, in the context of service users’ interpersonal sensitivities to dominance, it may be more useful to consider the way in which coercive practices are implemented.
Originality/value
There is a gap in the literature, which looks at the way in which forensic service users perceive coercive practices in relation to their interpersonal sensitivities and whether this too has an impact upon service user aggression.
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Dvora Ben Sasson and Anit Somech
Despite growing research on school aggression, significant gaps remain in the authors’ knowledge of team aggression, since most studies have mainly explored aggression on the part…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite growing research on school aggression, significant gaps remain in the authors’ knowledge of team aggression, since most studies have mainly explored aggression on the part of students. The purpose of this paper is to focus on understanding the phenomenon of workplace aggression in school teams. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to examine whether team affective conflict in school teams mediates the relationship between team injustice climate (distributive, procedural, and interpersonal injustice climate) and team aggression.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a survey of 43 school teams at different schools using questionnaires.
Findings
Results showed that team affective conflict played a role in fully mediating the relationship of team procedural and interpersonal injustice climate to team aggression.
Research limitations/implications
The present results empirically support the notion that workplace aggression can be considered not only an individual phenomenon but also a team phenomenon. Furthermore, it highlights the significance of organizational factors in predicting this phenomenon. The study should serve to encourage principals to reduce the level of team aggression and develop a supportive climate characterized by fair procedures and respect.
Originality/value
A review of the literature also reveals that little investigative effort has been made by scholars to examine aggression on the part of teachers. Evidence for this can be seen in the scarcity of publications on this topic. The current literature’s call to address this issue in schools and at the team level (Fox and Stallworth, 2010) stimulated the present study by highlighting the importance of exploring the contextual factors, rather than the individual ones, responsible for school team aggression.
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Lori Anderson Snyder, Peter Y. Chen, Paula L. Grubb, Rashaun K. Roberts, Steven L. Sauter and Naomi G. Swanson
This chapter examines aggression at work perpetrated by individual insiders by bringing together streams of research that have often been examined separately. A comparison of the…
Abstract
This chapter examines aggression at work perpetrated by individual insiders by bringing together streams of research that have often been examined separately. A comparison of the similarities and differences of aggression toward individuals, such as verbal abuse or physical attack, and aggression toward organizations, such as embezzlement or work slowdowns, is shown to provide important insights about the causes and consequences of workplace aggression. We propose a comprehensive model based on the integration of prior theoretical treatments and empirical findings. The model attempts to offer a framework to systematically examine psychological and organizational mechanisms underlying workplace aggression, and to explain the reasons why workplace violence policies and procedures sometimes fail. A set of research propositions is also suggested to assist in achieving this end in future research.
Stig Berge Matthiesen and Ståle Einarsen
This article examines the phenomenon and concept of bullying in the workplace. Workplace bullying is a form of interpersonal aggression that can be both flagrant and subtle, but…
Abstract
This article examines the phenomenon and concept of bullying in the workplace. Workplace bullying is a form of interpersonal aggression that can be both flagrant and subtle, but is mainly characterized by its persistency and long term duration. The relationships between bullying and related concepts such as workplace aggression and interpersonal conflict are discussed. With reference to previous empirical research as well as theoretical contributions, an attempt is made to clarify some important aspects about the phenomenon, such as various subtypes of workplace bullying. Empirical findings on prevalence, antecedents and outcome factors are outlined and reviewed. The paper also discusses the dose-response perspective.
Christin L. Munsch and Elizabeth S. Zack
An accelerometer is a device that measures force due to gravity or a change in speed or direction of travel. This paper describes accelerometers and their application in other…
Abstract
Purpose
An accelerometer is a device that measures force due to gravity or a change in speed or direction of travel. This paper describes accelerometers and their application in other disciplines and, by way of an example, explores the utility of accelerometers for studying aggression. We end with a discussion of additional ways accelerometers might be used in group processes research.
Methodology
We first review the use of accelerometers in other disciplines. We then present the results of four studies that demonstrate the use of accelerometers to measure aggression. Study 1 establishes the measure’s concurrent validity. Study 2 concerns its stability and representative reliability. Study 3 seeks to establish the measure’s predictive validity by associating it with an existing measure. Study 4 demonstrates the ability of accelerometers to address a sociological research question.
Findings
In Studies 1 and 2, we find that accelerometers can be used to differentiate between distinct levels of aggression. In Study 3, we find that men’s average peak acceleration correlates with a previously validated measure of aggression. Study 4 uses accelerometers to reproduce a well-established finding in the aggression literature.
Practical Implications
We conclude that accelerometers are a flexible tool for group processes’ researchers and social scientists more broadly. Our findings should prove useful to social scientists interested in measuring aggression or in employing accelerometers in their work.
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Psychopathy and antisocial personality are controversial disorders with alternate behavioral and dynamic formulations. As such, diagnostic approaches are often fragmentary and…
Abstract
Purpose
Psychopathy and antisocial personality are controversial disorders with alternate behavioral and dynamic formulations. As such, diagnostic approaches are often fragmentary and inconsistent. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the various conceptual parameters and to propose a comprehensive diagnostic approach.
Design/methodology/approach
A model is presented based on the congruence and differences among various categories of psychopathic and antisocial personality disorders and their clinical manifestations. Diagnostic approaches are critiqued and evaluated. Specific assessment tools and measures are recommended based on referrals and symptomatology.
Findings
Key factors of low frustration tolerance, poor social intelligence, aggression-driven psychopathy, sadism, and superego impairment are shown as central in the differential diagnostics of antisocial individuals.
Originality/value
The model enables the differentiation of problematic behaviors which may appear similar but require different forensic, legal, diagnostic, and intervention strategies.
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Christopher C. Rosen, Chu-Hsiang Chang, Emilija Djurdjevic and Erin Eatough
This chapter provides an updated review of research examining the relationship between occupational stressors and job performance. We begin by presenting an eight-category…
Abstract
This chapter provides an updated review of research examining the relationship between occupational stressors and job performance. We begin by presenting an eight-category taxonomy of workplace stressors and we then review theories that explain the relationships between workplace stressors and job performance. The subsequent literature review is divided into two sections. In the first section, we present a summary of Jex's (1998) review of research on the job stress–job performance relationship. In the second section, we provide an updated review of the literature, which includes studies that have been published since 1998. In this review, we evaluate how well the contemporary research has dealt with weaknesses and limitations previously identified in the literature, we identify and evaluate current trends, and we offer recommendations and directions for future research.
Lauren Lanzo, Shahnaz Aziz and Karl Wuensch
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among incivility, stress, workaholism, and psychological capital (PsyCap).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among incivility, stress, workaholism, and psychological capital (PsyCap).
Design/methodology/approach
Data on incivility, stress, workaholism, and PsyCap were collected, through administration of an online survey, from 168 employees.
Findings
Workaholism and stress were positively related to uncivil behaviors, while PsyCap was negatively linked to incivility. Additionally, workaholism was positively associated with stress and negatively related to PsyCap. Finally, PsyCap acted as a mediator between workaholism and uncivil behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
Future researchers should obtain a larger number of minority participants, assess the instigators of incivility, and implement a longitudinal model.
Practical implications
Managers should focus on reducing stress and uncivil behaviors, and implement interventions to reduce workaholism and stress and increase PsyCap.
Originality/value
It is the first study to examine measurable traits that are likely to lead to negative behaviors, and includes an emotional tool, PsyCap, that can be developed to limit the negative influence of incivility on the organization.
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