Workplace bullying describes someone who is exposed to negative acts repeatedly over a certain time period, and who has difficulty defending him or herself against these acts. The target of workplace bullying feels humiliated or oppressed. The meaningfulness of work tasks may deteriorate as an outcome of being subjected to abrasive behaviour such as bullying. Violent episodes may also occur. Many studies have demonstrated the negative health impact of workplace bullying, e.g. linked to psychosomatic complaints and post-traumatic stress disorder (Matthiesen & Einarsen, 2004), or suicidal thoughts (Nielsen et al., 2015). Due to the power issue the negative impact of workplace bullying may be extra strong when the perpetrator holds a leader position, in particular if he or she possesses the role as immediate superior. Previously, studies have found a link between destructive leadership and workplace bullying (e.g. Hoel et al., 2010). Yet, very few studies have investigated the link between various leadership styles and workplace bulling within a longitudinal design context. Moreover, studies have demonstrated that the personality issue may play a part in terms of workplace bullying. In line with this, trait anger is found to influence deviant behaviour (Eisenberger et al., 2004). Little research has been conducted thus far, however, to investigate trait anger as part of the vulnerability profile among targets of workplace bullying. One may argue that trait anger may indicate a kind of passive aggressive disposition among the victims. Data in this presentation is captured in Italy (longitudinal 3 wave study, with 3 months interval between the time lags). 463 Italian employees participated in the study, with mean age 44,5 years (age range 19-62 years of age). 56% of the respondents were women, and 27% of the sample had university degree or equivalent. About 2 in 3 respondents, 70%, was recruited from private sector. In the present study, trait anger (time point 1), as well as positive and destructive leadership styles (time point t1, t2 and t3) were explored, to investigate whether these antecedent factors predict workplace bullying at the final time point. Multivariate statistics revealed that destructive leadership quite strongly predicts future workplace bullying. Contrary to what we expected, constructive leadership does not correspond negatively with such misbehaviour (non-significant effects). Trait anger was found to have a more mixed impact on workplace bullying. Methodological weaknesses are discussed, along with some suggestions for future studies.

Workplace Bullying Predicted by Trait Anger, and Constructive and Destructive Forms of Leadership. A 3-Wave Longitudinal Study

BOBBIO, ANDREA
2016

Abstract

Workplace bullying describes someone who is exposed to negative acts repeatedly over a certain time period, and who has difficulty defending him or herself against these acts. The target of workplace bullying feels humiliated or oppressed. The meaningfulness of work tasks may deteriorate as an outcome of being subjected to abrasive behaviour such as bullying. Violent episodes may also occur. Many studies have demonstrated the negative health impact of workplace bullying, e.g. linked to psychosomatic complaints and post-traumatic stress disorder (Matthiesen & Einarsen, 2004), or suicidal thoughts (Nielsen et al., 2015). Due to the power issue the negative impact of workplace bullying may be extra strong when the perpetrator holds a leader position, in particular if he or she possesses the role as immediate superior. Previously, studies have found a link between destructive leadership and workplace bullying (e.g. Hoel et al., 2010). Yet, very few studies have investigated the link between various leadership styles and workplace bulling within a longitudinal design context. Moreover, studies have demonstrated that the personality issue may play a part in terms of workplace bullying. In line with this, trait anger is found to influence deviant behaviour (Eisenberger et al., 2004). Little research has been conducted thus far, however, to investigate trait anger as part of the vulnerability profile among targets of workplace bullying. One may argue that trait anger may indicate a kind of passive aggressive disposition among the victims. Data in this presentation is captured in Italy (longitudinal 3 wave study, with 3 months interval between the time lags). 463 Italian employees participated in the study, with mean age 44,5 years (age range 19-62 years of age). 56% of the respondents were women, and 27% of the sample had university degree or equivalent. About 2 in 3 respondents, 70%, was recruited from private sector. In the present study, trait anger (time point 1), as well as positive and destructive leadership styles (time point t1, t2 and t3) were explored, to investigate whether these antecedent factors predict workplace bullying at the final time point. Multivariate statistics revealed that destructive leadership quite strongly predicts future workplace bullying. Contrary to what we expected, constructive leadership does not correspond negatively with such misbehaviour (non-significant effects). Trait anger was found to have a more mixed impact on workplace bullying. Methodological weaknesses are discussed, along with some suggestions for future studies.
2016
Book of Proceedings of the 12th EAOHP Conference “Occupational Health Psychology in Times of Change: Society and the Workplace”
978-0-9928786-3-4
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/3187429
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