Abstract
The prevalence of mobbing among nurses in various countries is around 17–20%. Some researchers have attempted to explain the success or failure of adaptation to the work environment and teamwork and to buffer the effects of psychological harassment in the workplace by incorporating emotional intelligence into the mobbing context. As its main objectives, this quantitative, observational, cross-sectional study analyzed the relationship between emotional intelligence and mobbing as perceived by nurses and sought to establish the mediating roles of other variables involved, such as social support and sensitivity to anxiety. The final sample consisted of 1357 Spanish, self-selected nurses aged 22–58 from multiple healthcare institutions. The questionnaires (Perceived Psychological Harassment Questionnaire, The Brief Emotional Intelligence Inventory, Brief Perceived Social Support Questionnaire, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3) were implemented on a web platform, which enabled the participants to complete them online. Descriptive analyses and mediation models were estimated. Personal characteristics related to high sensitivity to anxiety and low emotional intelligence implied greater presence of mobbing at work. This mobbing may be buffered if the person perceives enough support from family, friends or significant others. Our results recommend reinforcing the social support network of nursing personnel to improve the work climate and training them in emotional intelligence in university and on-the-job programs.
Highlights
Mobbing refers to the phenomenon by which one or several persons in the workplace exert extreme psychological harassment toward another or others by destroying their communication networks and their professional reputation and impairing their physical or psychological health so that they quit their jobs [1]
The higher the score on the interpersonal, mood and adaptability components was, the higher the perceived social support available to nursing personnel, with a large effect size in all the correlations. Data compatible with these were found by Montes-Berges and Augusto [48] and, more recently, by Fernández-Lasarte et al [49], who demonstrated that emotional intelligence correlated significantly with perceived social support in various samples
This did not hold true in the study by Extremera et al [54] in a sample of teachers, where emotional intelligence did not correlate with perceived social support, while support of coworkers had a mediating effect between emotional intelligence and teacher commitment, improving involvement in their work
Summary
Mobbing refers to the phenomenon by which one or several persons in the workplace exert extreme psychological harassment toward another or others by destroying their communication networks and their professional reputation and impairing their physical or psychological health so that they quit their jobs [1]. The term bullying is more common in research, there is a need to understand and approach mobbing as a separate concept from abuse by classmates, as its development, socioeconomic consequences and the imbalance of power differ [3]. In this sense, the negative consequences of mobbing for healthcare workers, the healthcare system and the quality of patient care have been widely demonstrated [4,5,6,7], cultural, economic, legal, organizational and other factors should be considered for their prevention and coping [8].
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