Impact of Workplace Bullying on Psychological Wellbeing of Doctors in Health Care Sector of Pakistan

Humera Asrar,Ume Sumayya,Ume Amen,Adnan Butt

doi:10.52633/jemi.v3i2.81

Abstract

Organizations today are globally facing the dilemma of inappropriate work behaviours especially bullying, as it has long term negative effects on target employees. Workplace bullying is a major reason for work-related distress and subsequently psychological wellbeing issues for employees. The main objective of this study was to identify the effect of bullying on the psychological well-being of doctors in Karachi, Pakistan. Data from 135 doctors were collected through a structured questionnaire. Results of the study indicated that workplace bullying significantly affects the psychological well-being of employees’ and gender plays moderating effect in the relationship between workplace bullying and the psychological well-being of the doctors. The findings of the study are very important for policymakers and top management of the hospitals, to prevent the healthcare sector from the detrimental impact of this unhealthy practice and to minimize the psychological effect of bullying. This study suggests management should pay attention to designing and executing rules and policies against bullying in order to minimize the adverse results of workplace bullying. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that bullying affects create more devastating effects on female doctors than their male counterparts. Further, it was observed that skills and experience are major factors to obtain positive outcomes of employee psychological wellbeing.

Highlights

Employees are the most imperative assets for organizations because they can be the source of acquiring sustainable competitive edge for organizational growth (Cui, 2021)
Workplace bullying is a global dilemma for organizations, because bullying has been a long deterred psychological effect on targeted employees (Xu et al, 2019)
According to the stress theory, work place bullying is the major reason of work-related distress and subsequent psychological wellbeing issues of employees (Hoobler et al, 2010)

Summary

Introduction

Employees are the most imperative assets for organizations because they can be the source of acquiring sustainable competitive edge for organizational growth (Cui, 2021). Employees' physical and psychological wellbeing is an important concern for every organization; according to House et al (2004) health consequences can increase or decrease the capacity of work in any person's life. Workplace bullying is a global dilemma for organizations, because bullying has been a long deterred psychological effect on targeted employees (Xu et al, 2019). Studies have been done to identify the effects of bullying in the organization as Rodríguez‐Muñoz et al (2010) claimed that workplace bullying leads to employee’s dissatisfaction and employee disengagement (Berthelsen et al, 2011; Hogh et al, 2011). Bullying causes absenteeism in organizations (Kivimaki, 2000; Ortega et al, 2011). This can create an extended emotional impact on employees (Lahelma et al, 2012)

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