Does trait anger, trait anxiety or organisational position moderate the relationship between exposure to negative acts and self-labelling as a victim of workplace bullying?

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the relationship between exposure to negative acts at work (NAQ) and self-labelling as a victim of workplace bullying, and whether this relationship is moderated by the targets' personality (trait anger and trait anxiety) or organisational position (leader vs. follower). A total of 466 employees participated in the study, in which 61 self-labelled victims (13.7%) were identified. The results show that NAQ acts as a strong predictor of self-labelling, a relationship which is not moderated by the personal or situational factors examined. However, both trait anxiety and trait-anger acted as independent predictors of self-labelling. Hence, personality seems to influence the self-labelling process although further research is needed in order to understand this process more thoroughly. Keywords: Workplace bullyingSelf-labellingPersonalityOrganisational position