The mediator role of ethical climate perception on the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and turnover intention: A research on remote workers

Abstract

Purpose- The more inclusion of information communication technologies in business life has also brought a new type of bullying which is cyberbullying. Traditional bullying has evolved into cyberbullying behavior in working life as a result of the increase in communication through information technologies with the increase in the remote working system and virtual work environments. In previous studies, the effect of cyberbullying on turnover intention was examined. Nonetheless, the mediating role of ethical climate in the relationship between these two has not been examined. This research is aimed to examine the association between cyberbullying victimization and turnover intention and to determine whether ethical climate perception performs as a moderator in that relationship. Methodology- A qualitative study was carried out and purposive sampling method and snowball technique were used to obtain a sample of 204 white-collar workers who are working remotely at least 1 day a week outside of the office and working mainly in İstanbul and Kocaeli in Turkey. The analysis of data were done by using SPSS program. Findings- The results showed that there is a positive relationship between cyberbullying and turnover intention, and ethical climate perception has a mediating role in this relationship. Conclusion- This paper showed how critical the concept of cyberbullying is for organizations in business life by showing the relationship between intention to leave and cyberbullying victimization and the mediating role that the perception of ethical climate may have in this relationship. Moreover, this study has made practical contributions about how important ethical codes in companies are to ensure that employees do not leave their jobs by trusting the organization when they are exposed to negative behavior such as cyberbullying. Keywords: Cyberbullying, cyberbullying victimization, ethical climate, turnover intention, remote workers JEL Codes: J24, J81, M14