This study examines workplace bullying within the middle-management tier of a large Gauteng-based retail organisation in South Africa, with a focus on structural organisational pressures and perceptual differences among managers. While traditional research often emphasises individual personality traits or victim demographics, this study explores how organisational conditions—particularly the “middle management squeeze” and performance-driven Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—are reflected in workplace behaviours. Grounded in a positivist paradigm, a quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among a probability-based sample of 253 retail managers. Data were collected using the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-22) and analysed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and nonparametric inferential tests. The findings indicate that task-related negative acts, such as micromanagement (M = 2.00) and persistent monitoring (M = 1.87), are frequently experienced. EFA identified two dimensions—General Harassment and Managerial Control—accounting for 62% of the total variance. Inferential results show that perceptions of General Harassment differ significantly across educational groups (p = 0.0268), whereas perceptions of Managerial Control remain consistent (p = 0.3378). These findings indicate that social forms of incivility are interpreted differently across educational cohorts, while task-related managerial practices are widely normalised. The study highlights the importance of understanding workplace bullying as both a structural and perceptual phenomenon and underscores the need for organisational interventions that address systemic pressures rather than relying solely on individual-level approaches.

Background: Workplace bullying constitutes a persistent psychosocial risk in public service settings, where hierarchical structures and limited exit opportunities may intensify employees’ psychological strain. Although previous research has documented associations between workplace bullying and burnout, less is known about the psychological processes through which bullying translates into emotional exhaustion and the contextual conditions under which these processes are activated, particularly in public sector contexts. Method: This study used survey data from 234 public service employees working in administrative, educational, and non-clinical healthcare institutions across three major cities in Türkiye (Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir). Participants who were frequently exposed to workplace bullying were selected to examine the detrimental cycle that victims experience. A moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 7) was tested to examine emotion-focused coping as a mediating mechanism between workplace bullying and burnout, operationalized through emotional exhaustion, and to assess whether this indirect effect was conditional on perceived bystander silence. Results: Findings indicated that workplace bullying was associated with increased reliance on emotion-focused coping only when perceived bystander silence was high. The conditional indirect effect of workplace bullying on burnout via emotion-focused coping was significant at higher levels of bystander silence, whereas no indirect effect emerged under low silence conditions. Conclusions: These findings suggest that burnout does not arise as an automatic consequence of bullying exposure but unfolds through coping processes that are activated in socially silent environments. By highlighting the conditional role of bystander silence, this study emphasizes the value of social context in shaping how public service employees respond to workplace bullying and how burnout develops. We discuss the practical implications for organizational interventions that aim to reduce bystander silence and support healthier coping processes in organizations.

ABSTRACT This study investigated the links between big five personality factors, workplace bullying, and job satisfaction among 624 Greek teachers through self-report. A model was tested with workplace bullying dimensions as mediators between personality factors and job satisfaction. Mediation analyses showed that extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness were associated with job satisfaction through the mediating role of workplace bullying, particularly isolation. Agreeableness was associated with job satisfaction through multiple workplace bullying dimensions (harm to reputation, isolation, threatening and intimidating behaviour, physical and cyberbullying, and abusive supervision). Harm to reputation and threatening and intimidating behaviours mediated the associations between conscientiousness and emotional stability and job satisfaction. The results are examined with a focus on their practical applications.

In contemporary Japanese workplaces, interpersonal relationship problems have become increasingly serious, leading to heightened psychological stress and declining organizational functioning. One major contributing factor is power harassment (workplace bullying). This study surveyed 1621 Japanese workers to examine how support from supervisors and organizations influences power harassment, with particular attention to differences in self-esteem levels and narcissistic types. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that among individuals with high self-esteem, supervisor support tended to reduce power harassment in those characterized by the Need for Attention and Praise type, whereas organizational support tended to increase it. Additionally, for those classified as the Sense of Superiority and Competence type, the interaction between ego threat and both types of support showed a tendency to exacerbate power harassment. For individuals with low self-esteem, the interaction between ego threat and both types of support similarly tended to intensify power harassment in the Need for Attention and Praise type. These results suggest that the effects of support are not uniform; rather, they may inhibit or facilitate power harassment depending on individual psychological traits. Therefore, tailoring the method, timing, and source of support to workers’ psychological characteristics is essential for both preventing power harassment and promoting psychological adaptation.

Recognizing norm violations disguised in workplace bullies' sticky stories: Results of a realist review.

Workplace Bullying and Depression Among the Saudi Working Population: A Cross-Sectional Study.

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of leadership for preventing abuses of power through harassment and bullying in the Swedish performing arts, highlighting the significance of feminist and anti-oppressive leadership. Previous studies of harassment and bullying in workplaces across sectors have identified the role of leadership as central. For example, passive leadership has been found to increase the likelihood of sexual harassment, work cultures of bullying have been found to begin at the top of an organization, and leadership has been found to be the best opportunity to prevent sexual harassment and assault. The article aims to understand the impact of leadership on prevention strategies against harassment and bullying. It is based on interviews with leaders, recorded observations of rehearsals and written policies from two Swedish performing arts institutions. Understanding organizational structures and processes as always already gendered and shaped by inequality regimes of gender, class, and race, we focus here on how harassment and bullying is approached in practice and on paper. Our conclusions are that feminist and anti-oppressive leadership is highly significant for the institutional ability to live up to the written policies in practice, and the analysis describes successful ways of working to prevent harassment and bullying.

Workplace bullying in intensive care units: intern nurses' experiences and responses.

The thoroughbred horse breeding industry contributes significantly to the Irish economy. However, staff shortages threaten the economic sustainability of the industry, as well as the welfare of both horses and workers. Previous research on the staffing crisis faced by the broader horseracing industry has highlighted mental health concerns as a factor. Furthermore, the influence of workplace context on mental health has been widely recognised in organisational psychology. The aim of this study was to assess prevalence rates of Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) in Irish thoroughbred horse breeding and associated occupational risk factors. Thoroughbred breeders and stud farm staff (N=105) were recruited through Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association (ITBA) for a survey consisting of four sections including demographic and lifestyle, mental health, occupational risk factors, and wellbeing at work. CMD prevalence encompassed depression, anxiety, psychological distress and substance use. Occupational risk factors including career dissatisfaction, job control and workplace bullying were assessed to explore associations. Descriptive statistics estimated prevalence, while inferential analyses explored associations between demographic and occupational factors. Breeding staff reported high rates of depression (50%), psychological distress (44.3%), anxiety (34.9%), and hazardous alcohol consumption (45.3%). Low job control, bullying, injuries, and career dissatisfaction were each associated with increased CMD prevalence. Women and younger staff were at an increased risk of bullying, CMDs, and lower wellbeing. This is the first study to assess CMD prevalence and risk factors in thoroughbred breeding in Ireland. High prevalence rates of CMDs and staff leaving intentions are influenced by occupational factors in thoroughbred breeding.

This study develops a conceptual model to explain workplace bullying among academics in Malaysian universities as an organisational phenomenon shaped by leadership and climate. Grounded in Conservation of Resources theory, the manuscript proposes that toxic leadership acts as an upstream source of resource depletion that increases vulnerability to repeated negative acts at work. Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) is positioned as a mediating mechanism that explains how leadership-related resource loss is translated into workplace bullying. Addressing gaps in Malaysian higher education research, the study advances two propositions: that toxic leadership positively affects workplace bullying, and that this relationship is transmitted indirectly through PSC. Methodologically, the study proposes a quantitative design using survey data from academics in Malaysian universities and structural equation modelling to test the hypothesised relationships. This study contributes to bullying and higher education literature by shifting attention from individual coping to systemic prevention, highlighting leadership practices and PSC as key organisational levers for healthier academic workplaces.

Purpose This study examines the impact of abusive supervision on withdrawal behavior among bank employees at the staff level in Sri Lanka's Northern Province. The study focuses on physical and psychological withdrawal behavior to determine how supervisory behavior influences worker disengagement. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected by a guided questionnaire from 131 employees of licensed commercial banks operating in the Northern Province. The research uses linear regression analysis through the SPSS (Version 29) to explore the linkage between withdrawal behaviour and abusive supervision. Descriptive statistics and correlation matrices were also used to examine associations with demographic variables. Findings This study investigates the impact of abusive supervision on physical and psychological withdrawal behaviors among bank employees in Sri Lanka's Northern Province, a context rarely explored in organizational literature. Using linear regression and SEM, abusive supervision was found to significantly predict withdrawal behaviors (β = 0.649 for physical, β = 0.594 for psychological; p < 0.001). Grounded in Conservation of Resources theory, the findings highlight emotional resource depletion as a mechanism driving disengagement, uniquely framed in a post-conflict, culturally distinct banking sector. Originality/value This study uniquely investigates the dual impact of abusive supervision on physical and psychological withdrawal behaviors among bank staff in Sri Lanka's post-conflict Northern Province, an underexplored context in organizational literature. Using Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, it frames withdrawal as a response to emotional resource loss. By incorporating context-specific factors like sector and marital status, the study adds meaningful, theory-driven insights to the global conversation on workplace abuse.

Workplace bullying is conceptualized as a systematic exposure to harassing behavior accompanied by feelings of defenselessness. Yet, most research has solely focused on exposure, thereby ignoring the role of defenselessness regarding victimization from bullying. Using a person-centered approach, this cross-sectional study addresses this gap by investigating the relation between employees' profiles of exposure to bullying behaviors and their profiles of defenselessness. Latent profile analyses of 491 employees identified four distinct exposure profiles: (a) no exposure, (b) rare exposure, (c) occasional exposure, and (d) exposure to isolating acts (work isolation). A parallel four-profile solution emerged for defenselessness, reflecting (a) no, (b) low, and (c) moderate levels across most indicators, as well as (d) specific defenselessness linked to isolating behaviors. Profile membership overlapped strongly between exposure and defenselessness, except for one-third of employees in the rare exposure profile, who showed moderate rather than low defenselessness. The profile reflecting the highest levels of exposure and defenselessness (occasional exposure and moderate defenselessness) reported the most negative outcomes (higher perceived victimization, exhaustion, and job dissatisfaction), whereas the no exposure/no defenselessness profile showed the most adaptive outcomes. Importantly, the rare exposure profile experienced significantly worse outcomes when defenselessness was moderate rather than low. The work isolation profile showed outcomes similar to the rare exposure profile with low defenselessness, highlighting the harmful nature of isolating actions. The findings highlight the need for organizations to actively prevent and manage negative behaviors among employees.

Amidst the rapidly evolving global healthcare environment, junior nurses must develop greater adaptability. However, issues such as workplace bullying significantly undermine their adaptive performance. Guided by the Job Demands-Resources Theory and Emotion Regulation Theory, this study examines the chain-mediating role of cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and work engagement in the relationship between workplace bullying and adaptive performance. From April to May 2024, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 17 hospitals in Southwest China. The study utilized a comprehensive set of measurement tools, including the General Information Questionnaire, the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Work Engagement Questionnaire, and the Adaptive Performance Questionnaire. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS and Mplus. A total of 988 junior nurses were included in this study. Adaptive performance was negatively correlated with workplace bullying (r = -0.335) and expressive suppression (r = -0.180) and positively correlated with cognitive reappraisal (r = 0.556) and work engagement (r = 0.576) (all p < 0.01). The indirect effect of workplace bullying on adaptive performance via emotion regulation and work engagement was significant (standardized indirect effect = -0.188, 95% BC CI [-0.238, -0.138]), accounting for 51.8% of the total standardized effect. There was a significant negative correlation between workplace bullying and adaptive performance of junior nurses, in which cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and work engagement played a mediating role. This suggests that when healthcare institutions and nursing administrators develop strategies to enhance adaptive performance, they should mitigate workplace bullying and enhance cognitive reappraisal capabilities, reduce expressive suppression tendencies, and strengthen work engagement levels. However, the cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences, and the regional sample may limit generalizability.

Research methodology Secondary sources, including federal and state court records, news articles and press releases, support this case study. This research followed a systematic approach, starting with researching court records and Uber press releases to verify facts about the 2106 breach, followed by news outlets to provide context. After researching the 2016 data breach, the authors conducted additional research regarding the culture of Uber during this time and its history as background information. Finally, the authors looked for more recent interviews with Sullivan to gain insight into his perspectives during this time. Case overview/synopsis In 2016, two hackers accessed Uber’s cloud-based repository and downloaded over 57 million usernames along with email addresses, mobile phone numbers and driver’s license numbers. The hackers demanded a ransom in exchange for the data (Wong, 2017; Wright, 2022). At the time of the ransom demand, Uber was still under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission for a 2014 data breach. Uber’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, was responsible for handling Uber’s response. Uber’s culture at this time valued competitiveness, risk-taking and growth at any cost. Many examples are provided showing how Uber’s culture impacted decision-making throughout the company, including questionable growth strategies such as “greyballing,” pushing drivers to work longer hours, and instances of sexual harassment and workplace bullying. How should Sullivan respond to the ransom demand, given the organizational, personal and legal pressures he was facing as the new chief technology officer of Uber? Complexity academic level Learning objectives for this case are aimed at second- and third-year undergraduate courses. Upper-level undergraduate courses such as principles of management, organizational behavior, corporate social responsibility, business ethics and business law courses would be appropriate. In general, this case would be appropriate for second- or third-year undergraduate courses that cover managerial decision-making or ethical frameworks, including decision-making.

Workplace bullying poses significant challenges to employee well-being and organizational retention. This study examines the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intentions at the Makeni District Council, Sierra Leone. Using a descriptive research design, data were collected from 100 employees through structured questionnaires adapted from validated instruments. Findings reveal moderate to high prevalence of workplace bullying (M=3.37), manifesting primarily through unrealistic deadlines, dismissal of ideas, and verbal abuse. Bullying significantly reduces employee job satisfaction and morale (M = 3.78), with employees reporting high anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and reduced motivation. Correlation analysis demonstrates a strong positive relationship between bullying and turnover intentions (r=0.742, p&lt;0.001), with bullying explaining 55% of the variance in turnover decisions (R²=0.55). The study validates the applicability of the Job Demands–Resources Model and Conservation of Resources Theory in an African public sector context. Results underscore the urgent need for anti-bullying policies, leadership training, confidential reporting mechanisms, and employee support services to reduce turnover and enhance organizational effectiveness.

ABSTRACT This study aims to shed more light on the “tit-for-tat” mechanism in both workplace incivility and bullying by adopting a latent class analysis approach to an incivility sample from Israel (n = 204) and a bullying sample from Belgium (n = 1352). Our results yielded an asymmetrical tit-for-that mechanism. In line with the central notion of powerlessness in bullying research, those who exposed others to negative social behaviors were more likely to get exposed to these types of behaviors themselves than those who were exposed would expose others. Notably, our results prompt a necessary debate about construct validity in both research streams; the latent classes in both samples appear to support the notion of incivility and bullying representing two ends of the psychological aggression continuum. Finally, our findings urge scholars to exercise caution when “labeling” and constructing a discourse. If bullying is downplayed as incivility, the severity of the situation may be underestimated. Conversely, if incivility is labeled bullying, the severity of the situation may be overestimated. Additionally, when investigating and labeling respondents as “instigators,” “perpetrators” or “bullies,” caution is warranted due to the absence of clear academic definitions. In sum, alongside research, our findings highlight the need for a debate on construct validity in this field.

Purpose Pakistan’s public hospitals face persistent nurse shortages, and high turnover is a major cause of this problem. This study examines whether workplace bullying increases nurses’ turnover intentions. It focuses on two forms of bullying (work-related and person-related), tests job satisfaction as a mediator and examines self-efficacy as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a stratified sampling approach from nurses working in government hospitals. The final sample included 448 nurses from public hospitals in Sindh Province. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and SmartPLS 4.0. Findings Both work-related and person-related bullying are linked with lower job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is also linked with lower turnover intention. In addition, job satisfaction explains part of the link between bullying and turnover intention. Self-efficacy moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention, such that the negative effect of low job satisfaction on turnover intention is weaker among nurses with higher self-efficacy. Originality/value This study provides practical guidance for hospital managers and human resources (HR) staff seeking to reduce turnover by addressing bullying and improving job satisfaction. It also offers policy-relevant evidence for retention strategies in public healthcare settings in developing countries, including Pakistan.

BackgroundWorkplace bullying (WB) among hospital nurses in Korea is a growing issue that affects their physical and mental health and safety. Thus, we aimed to identify the association between WB and depressive symptoms in newly hired hospital nurses.MethodsWe enrolled 508 nurses for the cross-sectional study and 311 nurses for the prospective observational study. In both studies, we conducted multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for age, gender, education level, living status (alone or not), alcohol consumption, exercise, department, and workplace. For the cross-sectional study, WB scores were categorized into three groups: “low,” “intermediate,” and “high.” In the prospective observational study, WB levels were classified as “absent” or “present,” based on the median score. Using the combination of WB status at baseline and follow-up, we categorized cases into four groups: “both absent,” “present to absent,” “both present,” and “absent to present.”ResultsIn the cross-sectional study, nurses with intermediate WB scores had an increased risk of depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 2.080; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.791–5.472), and those with high WB scores showed an even greater risk (OR, 6.606; 95% CI, 2.926–14.915) compared to nurses with low WB scores. In the prospective observational study, the risk of depressive symptoms was found to increase among nurses. After adjusting for confounding variables, the ORs for the “both present” group and the “absent to present” group were 4.308 (95% CI, 1.449–12.806) and 7.647 (95% CI, 2.639–11.157), respectively, compared to the “both absent” group.ConclusionWB among newly hired hospital nurses likely causes significant depressive symptoms. Therefore, organizational interventions should be considered to prevent depressive symptoms.

Validation and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Gaslighting at Work Questionnaire.

Challenges and disparities faced by women cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.