Abstract
AbstractBased on a nationally representative sample (N = 1,613) and a true prospective design, we show that the link between self‐labelled workplace bullying and exclusion from working life (i.e., becoming a non‐participant in working life) over a 5‐year time lag becomes stronger with increasing numbers of perpetrators involved. The amount of exposure to bullying behaviours could not explain the added effect of multiple perpetrators, indicating that the presence of multiple perpetrators is significant in and of itself. A post hoc descriptive cross‐tabulation analysis also showed that when one or two perpetrators were involved at T1, the rate of exclusion from working life 5 years later did not differ substantially from the normal population's exclusion rate. When three or more perpetrators were involved, on the other hand, the exclusion rate approached 50%, indicating that ≥3 perpetrators could denote a critical cut‐off point for a distinguishable group‐bullying phenomenon, at least with respect to exclusion from working life.
Highlights
Workplace bullying denotes a significant social work stressor, comprising exposure to ongoing negative and unwanted behaviour by superiors or colleagues, which the targeted individual has difficulty defending against due to a real or perceived power imbalance
Based on a nationally representative sample (N = 1,613) and a true prospective design, we show that the link between self-labelled workplace bullying and exclusion from working life over a 5-year time lag becomes stronger with increasing numbers of perpetrators involved
The rationale reviewed further above, we investigate whether the number of perpetrators of workplace bullying predicts the risk of exclusion from working life among self-labelled bullying targets, hypothesized as follows: Hypothesis 1 The association between workplace bullying and subsequent exclusion from working life will be stronger with higher numbers of perpetrators
Summary
Workplace bullying denotes a significant social work stressor, comprising exposure to ongoing negative and unwanted behaviour by superiors or colleagues, which the targeted individual has difficulty defending against due to a real or perceived power imbalance (cf. Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, & Cooper, 2011). This, in turn, may possibly further increase any related negative health outcomes, in line with research demonstrating high distress levels among those socially excluded at work (Wu, Yim, Kwan, & Zhang, 2012) In addition to these possibilities, in the case that several perpetrators collectively target one or a few individuals, the situation may itself be more likely to take the form of an expulsion process. Targets of bullying who are forced to quit or who leaves more or less voluntarily, and those targeted by several individuals, will likely exit their job at a time when their resources are depleted, and many will reasonably have a hard time finding their way back to or further on to ordinary employment (Leymann, 1992) Based on this notion, and the rationale reviewed further above, we investigate whether the number of perpetrators of workplace bullying predicts the risk of exclusion from working life among self-labelled bullying targets, hypothesized as follows: Hypothesis 1 The association between workplace bullying and subsequent exclusion from working life will be stronger with higher numbers of perpetrators
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