Workplace Bullying
Julaine E. Field, Ph.D., LPC, NCC
Associate Professor
Counseling and Human Services
University of Colorado at Colorado
What is Workplace Bullying? (April, 2008)
Workplace bullying refers to repeated, unreasonable actions of
individuals (or a group) directed towards an employee (or a group of
employees), which is intended to intimidate (usually psychologically) and
creates a risk to the health and safety of the employee(s).
Workplace bullying often involves an abuse or misuse of power.
Bullying includes behavior that intimidates, degrades, offends, or
humiliates a worker, often in front of others.
Examples of bullying:
Unwarranted or invalid criticism
Blame without factual justification
Being treated differently
Being sworn at
Exclusion or social isolation
Being shouted at or being humiliated
Being the target of practical jokes
Excessive monitoring
Regular threats
Smear campaigns
Denied prof. dev.
Quick to criticize
Passed over for prom.
How Common is Workplace Bullying?
-Australia (2006)
n= 14,000, 1 in 5 harassed by managers
or colleagues
40% stating that they witnessed abuse
-United Kingdom (2005) n = 3,000, 1 in 4, increase from (2000)
study (1 in 6)
-United States (2001)
1 in 3 to 9 of 10 (Glendinning, 2001)
-United States (2002)
Women reported being bullied more
often by coworkers while men reported
being by supervisors and coworkers
-United States (2006)
58% of bullies are women and they
most often victimize other women,
choosing women as targets nearly 90%
of the time. (Workplace Bullying Institute)
Workplace Bullying
Why Women?:
1.
2.
3.
It is not considered bullying when men do it
The behavior “stands out more” because it does not conform
to stereotypical feminine behavior
Behavior represents an actual or perceived fragile power base
-Only studied in the last decade
- Seven types of bullying in the workplace:
1. Direct physical bullying
2. Direct verbal bullying
3. Relational aggression
4. Scapegoating (direct attention to… and away from…)
5. Sexual harassment
6. Increasing work pressure or work load
7. Failure to credit the individual for success or setting up the
individual for failure.
(Harvey, et.al., 2006)
Top 15 – Most Common Forms of Workplace Aggression
(Neuman & Baron, 1998)
1. Starting, dirty looks, or other negative eye contact
2. Failure to return phone calls or return emails
3. Causing others to delay action on important matters
4. Belittling someone’s opinion or ideas to others
5. Giving someone the silent treatment
6. Negative or obscene gestures toward the target
7. Talking behind the target’s back/spreading rumors
8. Interrupting others when they are speaking or working
9. Intentionally damning with faint praise (Sarcasm with malice)
10.Flaunting status /acting in a condescending manner
11.Leaving the work area when the target enters
12.Failing to deny false rumors about the target
13.Verbal/sexual harassment
14.Failure to defend target’s plan to others
15.Showing up late to meetings that are run by target
What contributes to the likelihood that a person will
become a target or victim of workplace bullying?
Shyness (Einarsen et al., 1994)
Pre-existing symptoms of anxiety and depression
(Zapf, 1999)
Low social skills (Zapf, 1999)
Neuroticism (Mikkelsen & Einarsen, 2002; Vartia,
1996; Zapf, 1999)
Submissive and non-controversial, and they prefer to
avoid conflict (Coyne, Seigne, & Randall, 2000)
Sensitive and they have difficulties in coping
effectively with stressful situations (Coyne, Seigne, &
Randall, 2000)
Conscientious, traditional and dependable (Coyne,
Seigne, & Randall, 2000)
The Perpetrator/Workplace Bully
(Parkins, Fishbein, & Ritchey, 2006)
‘the abrasive personality’
‘the authoritarian personality’
‘the petty tyrant’
-Low perspective taking skills
-High social dominance orientation
-High social skills/interpersonal persuasion
Escalated
conflict at work
– insufficient
means to
resolve conflict
Workplace
Bullying
Insufficient
coping with
frustration –
externalized,
internalized
Destructive culture or
organization, Culture
of competition, role
conflict, lack of
autonomy, job
ambiguity, job
insecurity, forced
cooperation, lack of
goal clarity, directive
communication, strict
power hierarchy
Power, Influence,
Protection
Envy/Jealousy
Triangulation
Punishment
Social Status
Deflection
Social Dominance Hierarchy
Rationale for Bullying
Culture of Snark
Combo. “snide” and “remark”
Belittling style of speech
or writing
Social discourse
Social sport
Relational
Aggression
Behaviors which
threaten or intend to
harm a person’s
friendship or feelings of
belonging in a particular
peer group.
What it Looks Like
-Requiring strict alliances
-Soliciting sensitive material for
purposes of sharing it with others
(undermine academic initiatives)
-Gossip/Rumors about a close friend
to keep her “in check” (managing
social status)
-Isolation (often sudden and abrupt –
it is up to the “target” to understand
what she did wrong)
-Threatening to withdraw social
support. (“I am not sure if I can help
you with this project now.”)
-Sometimes involves others in
commission of aggression
Relational Aggression
Behaviors which threaten
or intend to harm a
person’s friendship or
feelings of belonging in a
particular peer group.
What it Looks Like
- Slow to respond to email and
timelines
-Reticence to make eye contact
-Assigned meaningless tasks
-Confusing, contradictory
instructions
-Undermining work performance
-Triangulating students
-Withholding information
-Hiding documents
-Setting impossible deadlines
Social Aggression
What it Looks Like
-Competing with someone – strategies
include slander, rumors, and back
stabbing
Behaviors which seek to
harm a person’s social
status through attacking a - Specific target for bullying (established
person.
social norm – social dominance
hierarchy) claim superiority, productivity,
true intellect, etc.
-Gossip/Rumors about an individual to
keep her “in check” (managing social
status)
-Isolation /Ostracized
- Always involves others in commission of
aggression
-Diminishment in status
Recipe for Relational and Social Aggression at
Work:
Individual Variables:
•Adherence to a “feminine ideal” for behavior
(the double standard is alive and well)
•Ongoing use of social coping skills
•Desire for popularity among peers
•Desire for recognition among peers
•Avoidance of direct conflict and resolution
•Jealousy and envy
•Compare self to others to know who “I” am
•Need for power and control
•Reinforcement for previous use (dev.)
Recipe for Relational and Social Aggression at
Work:
Systemic Variables:
•Administration who treats departments,
individuals “differently” according to perceived
status (Favoritism, Interpersonal injustice)
•Poor or weak leadership
•“Face” (positive social value, ingratiation)
allows success (true criteria are ill-defined)
•Inhospitable work environment (competition
for scarce resources, lack of respect, low morale,
causal attribution error, little change)
•Does not recognize bullying, lack of reporting
measures, lack of negative consequences
•Institutional and systemic bias against women
Coping
strategies
when being
bullied at
work:
•Assertive
responses
•Seeking
Help
•Avoidance
•Doing
Nothing
Olafsson and
Johannsdottir, 2004
•Name the behavior – “Right now I am
experiencing this discussion as your attempt to
overpower me…”
•Act confused – “Wow.. Let me see if I
understand this – you have pulled me off of this
project because…
•I statements – “I do not want you to talk to me
like this.”
•Document every incident, evidence?
•Speak to your supervisor (formal or informal)
•Use a reporting procedure or ask for one
•Find a mentor and other forms of support
•Seek legal consultation
•Work on assertiveness skills (individual or
group counseling, workshops, etc.)
Psychological integrity
•Take care of yourself
Short-Term Help for
Targets/Victims
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Seek out targets, ask questions, “name it”
Meet in private for discussion
Express concern for target
Self-disclose own experiences if relevant
Explore solutions
Explore reporting workplace bullying
Discuss “safety” option
Adapted from Crothers, L., & Kolbert, J. B. (2008).