The negative effects of workplace bullying are not limited to the targeted individuals, and can potentially lead to a decline in employee morale and shifts in organizational culture.
[7] Although there is no universally accepted formal definition of workplace bullying, and some researchers question whether a single, uniform definition is possible due to its complex and multifaceted forms,[8] several researchers have attempted to define it: Because it can occur in a variety of contexts and forms, it is also useful to define workplace bullying by the key features that these behaviours share.
However, some experts who have dealt with numerous individuals reporting abuse also categorize some isolated events as bullying, for example, with cases where there appear to be severe consequences.
[21] Expanding the common understanding of bullying to include single, severe episodes also parallels the legal definitions of sexual harassment in the United States.
[25] Research suggests that a significant number of people are exposed to persistent workplace bullying, with a majority of studies reporting a 10 to 15% prevalence in Europe and North America.
Although socioeconomic factors may play a role in the abuse, researchers from the Project for Wellness and Work-Life[11] suggest that "workplace bullying, by definition, is not explicitly connected to demographic markers such as sex and ethnicity".
[27] In 2008, Dr. Judy Fisher-Blando[28] wrote a doctoral research dissertation on Aggressive behaviour: Workplace Bullying and Its Effect on Job Satisfaction and Productivity.
[30] In 2015, the National Health Interview Survey found a higher prevalence of women (8%) workers who were threatened, bullied, or harassed than men.
[36] According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16,890 workers in the private industry experienced physical trauma from nonfatal workplace violence in 2016.
An authoritative management style, specifically, often includes bullying behaviours, which can make subordinates fearful and allow supervisors to bolster their authority over others.
These cases, the issue is not simply an organizational culture or environmental factors facilitating bullying, but bullying-like behaviour by an employer against an employee.
It generates feelings of humiliation, vulnerability, and helplessness in the victims, limiting their ability to develop competency and defend themselves” (Pérez-Fuentes et al. 2021, pg 2) [43] Furthermore, new managers will quickly come to view this form of behaviour as acceptable and normal if they see others get away with it and are even rewarded for it.
[45] The relationship between occupational stress and bullying was drawn in the matter of the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) issuing an Improvement Notice to the West Dorset General Hospital NHS Trust.
[citation needed] The value Latin America holds for personal connections with employees and the higher humane orientation of Sub-Saharan Africa may help to explain their distaste for bullying.
[citation needed] Ashforth discussed potentially destructive sides of leadership and identified what he referred to as petty tyrants, i.e., leaders who exercise a tyrannical style of management, resulting in a climate of fear in the workplace.
[45][50] Several studies have confirmed a relationship between bullying, on the one hand, and an autocratic leadership and an authoritarian way of settling conflicts or dealing with disagreements, on the other.
[44] In professions where workplace bullying is common, and employees do not receive sufficient support from their coworkers or managers, it often generates feelings of resignation that lead them to believe that the abuse is a normal and inevitable part of the job.
[43] In a study of public-sector union members, approximately one in five workers reported having considered leaving the workplace as a result of witnessing bullying taking place.
Blame culture reduces the capacity of an organization to take adequate measures to prevent minor problems from escalating into uncontrollable situations.
[68] Several aspects of academia, such as the generally decentralized nature of academic institutions[69][70] and the particular recruitment and career procedures,[citation needed] lend themselves to the practice of bullying and discourage its reporting and mitigation.
Bullying has been identified as prominent in blue collar jobs including on oil rigs, and in mechanical areas and machine shops, warehouses and factories.
It is thought that intimidation and fear of retribution cause decreased incident reports, which, in the socioeconomic and cultural milieu of such industries, would likely lead to a vicious circle.
[72][73] Two-thirds of the interviewed employees in this investigation declared they deemed the best way they found to deal with the workplace's bad behaviours was "not to get involved", as they "feared retaliation if they did intervene or report the problems.
[81] It is thought that this is at least in part an outcome of conservative traditional hierarchical structures and teaching methods in the medical profession which may result in a bullying cycle.
The combination of high social intelligence and low empathy is conducive to manipulative behaviour, such that Hutchinson (2013) describes workplace bullying to be.
[107] In 2007, researchers Catherine Mattice and Brian Spitzberg at San Diego State University, USA, found that narcissism revealed a positive relationship with bullying.
Narcissists were found to prefer indirect bullying tactics (such as withholding information that affects others' performance, ignoring others, spreading gossip, constantly reminding others of mistakes, ordering others to do work below their competence level, and excessively monitoring others' work) rather than direct tactics (such as making threats, shouting, persistently criticizing, or making false allegations).
According to scholars at The Project for Wellness and Work-Life at Arizona State University, "workplace bullying is linked to a host of physical, psychological, organizational, and social costs."
Respondents reported other symptoms that can be exacerbated by stress: migraine headaches (48%), irritable bowel disorder (37%), chronic fatigue syndrome (33%) and sexual dysfunction (27%).
Researcher Tamara Parris discusses how employers need to be more attentive in managing various discordant behaviours such as bullying in the workplace, as they not only create a financial cost to the organization, but also erode the company's human resource assets.