Abstract
Workplace bullying is regarded as one of the most devastating stressors at work for those targeted, and the bullying-mental health relationship is well-documented in the literature, even under lower levels of exposure. However, less is known about when and for whom these negative behaviors have more effect. Perceived control over outcomes in life (i.e., internal locus of control) has normally been related to good health and well-being, while relying on chance and/or powerful others (i.e., external locus of control) have been related to stress and poor health. In situations with reduced individual control like bullying, however, these mechanisms may act differently. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether internal and external locus of control, respectively, moderates the bullying-mental health relationship. Data were gathered in 2014–2015 from 1474 Russian employees (44% response rate), and analyzed using Mplus and SEM modeling. Included measurement scales were the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised, the General Health Questionnaire-12, and Levenson’s Locus of Control scale. Although the prevalence of high intensity bullying was low, the results showed the expected positive relationship between exposure to bullying behaviors and psychological strain. Furthermore, this relationship was moderated by locus of control. In line with our expectations, internal locus of control did not have the generally assumed positive effect on strain when exposed to bullying behaviors. On the other hand, external locus of control seems relatively beneficial when facing bullying behaviors. The results of this study thus support that exposure to bullying and its associated behaviors are unique stressors where personal characteristics seem to play a different role than normally expected when facing other kinds of stressors.
Highlights
An inspection of the fit indices (Table 2) indicated that a five-factor model, where the psychological strain scale was divided into two sub-scales (6 reversed positive items and 6 negative items), yielded the best fit (RMSEA = 0.05, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.95, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.95)
The results showed no deterioration in fit (RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.95, TLI = 0.95)
The results in this study indicate that, when exposed to higher levels of bullying, the bullying-psychological strain relationship is strongest among those targets with high internal locus of control and among those with low external locus of control
Summary
Workplace Bullying, Strain, and Locus of Control Such exposure in its more extreme forms, often denoted as workplace bullying, is characterized by three central criteria; repeated exposure to negative and unwanted behavior by other organization members, over a period of time, with a real or perceived imbalance in power between the target and the perpetrator, preventing the target from effectively retaliating in kind (Einarsen et al, 2011). Even in less extreme forms, exposure to such workplace bullying behaviors, by some denoted as incivility (Cortina et al, 2001), is related to most indicators of reduced well-being among its targets. There is a shortage of theory-driven studies suggesting more complex understanding of how and when exposure to bullying influences the health of those targeted (Nielsen et al, 2016; Nielsen and Einarsen, 2018)
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