Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence rate of workplace bullying in a sample of Italian and Spanish employees, and its differential consequences on employees’ job satisfaction and psychological well-being. The effects of workplace bullying on job satisfaction and psychological well-being were explored taking into account a contextualized approach. Design/Methodology/approach – Cross-sectional study was adopted, in which a sample of 1,151 employees in Italy and 705 in Spain completed a questionnaire. We hypothesized that the relationship between exposure to bullying behaviors and psychological well-being is mediated by job satisfaction, and that this simple mediation model is moderated by the country (moderated mediation). Findings – Results suggest that no particular differences exist in bullying prevalence among Spanish and Italian employees. However, we found scientific confirmation of our hypothesized moderated mediation model. Research limitations/implications – Despite the limitations of the sample studied, findings capture contextual differences in the bullying phenomenon, which may have several implications for further research in this domain, as well as for designing interventions to deal with workplace bullying. Originality/value – Although this study explores bullying in different cultural contexts without investigating specific cultural values, it establishes the roots to assess workplace bullying from a contextualized perspective.
Highlights
Workplace bullying refers to an interpersonal process by which one individual ends in a helpless situation after being the target of systematic and subtle negative acts
The present study examines the prevalence rate of workplace bullying among two samples of Italian and Spanish employees and explores the effects of workplace bullying on job satisfaction and psychological well-being
Our results show an indirect link between workplace bullying and psychological well-being through job satisfaction, and how this relationship is moderated by the country
Summary
Workplace bullying refers to an interpersonal process by which one individual ends in a helpless situation after being the target of systematic and subtle negative acts. It has severe consequences for employees and the organization as a whole and has situated workplace bullying as a prominent subject in research agenda during recent years (Matthiesen and Einarsen, 2010). We expect to find a similar prevalence of bullying in the two samples because the literature shows that, in southern Europe, tolerance and acceptance of negative acts are higher than northern European countries (Parent-Thirion et al, 2007). In some jobs (e.g., among nurses), bullying may even be considered as part of the job, with tolerance and failure to report the episodes (Arcangeli et al, 2014)
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