Organizational Resources and Demands Influence on Workplace Bullying

Abstract

Both the popular press and academic research have highlighted the frequency and dangers of workplace bullying (Cloud, 2010; Schat and Frone, 2011; Zapf et al., 1996). Recent findings estimate the rate of workplace bullying (the percentage of employees who perceive themselves as having been subjected to bullying behaviors at work during the previous six months) at an average of 14.6 percent worldwide (Nielsen et al, 2010). The wide range of estimates across different studies, from 4.6 to 32.1 percent, is explained in part by variations in the way bullying is defined and measured, geographic location, and the profession of interest (Salin, 2001). In this study, workplace bullying is defined as a systematic phenomenon characterized by repeated occurrences of negative acts over a sustained duration in which the target has difficulty defending themselves (Einarsen et al., 2011). Workplace bullying behaviors include being shouted at, insulted, or physically threatened at work. As a consequence of workplace bullying, individuals' job attitudes and health are jeopardized (Hogh et al, 2005; Salin, 2003; 2008; Schat and Frone, 2011), and organizations must grapple with costs from employee turnover, decreased productivity, and potential lawsuits (Fox and Stallworth, 2005; McCarthy and Mayhew, 2004; Salin, 2003; 2008). Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand how organizations can minimize workplace bullying to protect the health of their employees as well as the financial health of the organizations. Although much of the research predicting workplace bullying tends to focus on the individual characteristics of the victim or bully (Aquino, 2000; Baumeister et al., 1996; Bechtoldt and Schmitt, 2010; Zapf, 1999), the same research also acknowledges that the work environment can influence bullying behaviors (Aquino et al., 1999). In fact, a meta-analysis by Bowling and Beehr (2006) suggested that the organizational environment plays a much greater role in explaining workplace bullying than do individual differences. Similarly, the proposition that the work environment contributes to perceptions of workplace bullying (Leymann, 1996) has found support in the literature (Hauge et al., 2007). Furthermore, drawing from the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, Schat and Frone (2011) explain how aggressive mistreatment is a workplace stressor that is an indicator of a negative environment. Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, which is used as the guiding theory in this paper, focuses on the stressors that occur in the work setting (Hobfoll, 2011), thereby bridging organizational environment and individual theories by proposing a dynamic model of stress that explains how individuals gamer and protect their resources to avoid stress (Hobfoll, 1988; 1989). Stress is predicted to occur when an individual's resources are threatened, lost, or there is a lack of resource gain (Westman et al, 2005). As such, COR theory may shed light on how organizational resources and demands contribute to stress (Zellars et al., 2011), specifically employees' perceptions of being a target of bullying behavior (Baillien et al., 2011). Specifically, trust in management is framed as an organizational resource and role overload as an organizational demand. Furthermore, three factors that may act as buffers to reduce employee perceptions that they are a target of acts of bullying are introduced. Drawing from the job demands-control model of stress (Karasek, 1979), job autonomy, employee participation, and social support from colleagues are considered as key moderators. This study contributes to research on workplace bullying by demonstrating the important role organizational characteristics play in influencing perceived exposure to workplace bullying. This research also contributes to COR theory by providing evidence that specific factors act as passageways that enable or restrict employees' ability to access, accumulate, or protect valuable resources, and influence the effect of both resources and demands on workplace stress, specifically perceived exposure to workplace bullying. …