Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate external whistleblowers’ experiences of workplace bullying by superiors and colleagues, and to analyze how the bullying was influenced by factors such as the support they received from government or NGOs, and whether colleagues understood the reasons for the whistleblower’s actions. For bullying by colleagues, we also examined to what extent this was influenced by superiors’ behavior towards the whistleblower. We reviewed the relevant literature on workplace bullying and whistleblowers’ experiences of negative or retaliatory actions and developed three hypotheses, which we tested using data gathered from Korean external whistleblowers. Results revealed that external whistleblowers experienced work-related bullying by superiors and social relation-related and person-related bullying by colleagues more frequently, and found it more distressing, than other types of workplace bullying. Superiors’ bullying was a dominant factor affecting bullying by colleagues. Colleagues’ understanding of the reason for the whistleblower’s actions was significant in reducing bullying frequency while support from government and NGOs was not significant in reducing it. Based on these findings, practical implications are discussed.
Highlights
Many studies have documented the extent to which whistleblowers suffer from hostile behavior in the workplace after disclosing wrongdoing (e.g., Peters et al 2011; Jackson et al 2010; Rothschild and Miethe 1999), with workplace bullying potentially a systematic and enduring form of retaliation
External whistleblowers are exposed to higher levels of retaliation than internal whistleblower, and our data suggest they may be exposed to higher levels of workplace bullying
Less has been known about the nature of workplace bullying, as perceived by external whistleblowers
Summary
Many studies have documented the extent to which whistleblowers suffer from hostile behavior (retaliation) in the workplace after disclosing wrongdoing (e.g., Peters et al 2011; Jackson et al 2010; Rothschild and Miethe 1999), with workplace bullying potentially a systematic and enduring form of retaliation. There is strong evidence that external whistleblowers (i.e., those who blow the whistle to recipients outside of the organization) suffer the greatest level of retaliation (Dworkin and Baucus 1998), but the extent to which this retaliation takes the form of workplace bullying has not been widely studied. The findings contribute to our understanding of the damage suffered by whistleblowers and to the shaping of programs and policies for protecting whistleblowers, by exploring the bullying behavior experienced by external whistleblowers and the impact of the internal and external support for whistleblowers on bullying
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