Top

Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal

Published in:

04-11-2015

Aggression and Bullying in the Workplace: It’s the Position of the Perpetrator that Influences Employees’ Reactions and Sanctioning Ratings

Authors: Jack L. Howard, Allen C. Johnston, Barbara A. Wech, James Stout

Published in: Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal | Issue 2/2016

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config

AI-assisted search

Off

Abstract

While research has identified the causes and consequences of workplace aggression and bullying, little research has examined the factors that shape employee responses to aggression and bullying. In the present paper two studies are conducted in a healthcare setting to determine the factors that shape perceptions of aggression and bullying and how those perceptions subsequently influence employee reactions and sanctioning ratings. Empowerment, well-being, and communication satisfaction are examined to determine their moderating influence on reactions and sanctioning ratings to the incidents of aggression and bullying. The findings indicate that perpetrator type influences perceptions of aggression, that employees address incidents of aggression differently than incidents of bullying, and that empowerment and well-being moderate the relationship between perceptions of aggression and bullying and the subsequent reactions and sanctioning recommendations employees make.

next article Employers’ Perspectives on the Canadian National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 102.000 Bücher
über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Automobil + Motoren
Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

über 67.000 Bücher
über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

Bauwesen + Immobilien
Business IT + Informatik
Finance + Banking
Management + Führung
Marketing + Vertrieb
Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Available only for authorised users

Randomly selected from a scenario universe of 97,200

An a priori power analysis (G*Power3 software) determined a minimum of 323 observations would be required to detect an effect size of 0.25 with a power of 0.95 (alpha = 0.05) given the factors and factor level provided in this study.

Alexander, C. S., & Becker, H. (1978). The use of vignettes in survey research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 42(1), 93.CrossRef

Aquino, K., Grover, S. L., Bradfield, M., & Allen, D. G. (1999). The effects of negative affectivity, hierarchical status, and self-determination on workplace victimization. Academy of Management Journal, 42(3), 260–272.CrossRef

Aquino, K., Tripp, T. M., & Bies, R. J. (2001). How employees respond to personal offense: the effects of blame attribution, victim status, and offender status on revenge and reconciliation in the workplace. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 52–59.CrossRef

Aquino, K., Tripp, T. M., & Bies, R. J. (2006). Getting even or moving on? Power, procedural justice, and types of offense as predictors of revenge, forgiveness, reconciliation, and avoidance in organizations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(3), 653–668.CrossRef

Arnold, K. A., Turner, N., Barling, J., Kelloway, E. K., & McKee, M. C. (2007). Transformational leadership and psychological well-being: the mediating role of meaningful work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(3), 193–203.CrossRef

Autrey, P. S., Howard, J. L., & Wech, B. A. (2013). Sources, reactions, and tactics used by RNs to address aggression in an acute care hospital: a qualitative analysis. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(3), 155–159.CrossRef

Ayoko, O. B. (2007). Communication openness, conflict events and reactions to conflict in culturally diverse workgroups. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 14(2), 105–124.CrossRef

Barling, J. (1996). The prediction, experience, and consequences of workplace violence. In G. R. VandenBos & E. O. Bulatao (Eds.), Violence on the job: identifying risks and developing solutions (pp. 29–49). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRef

Barling, J., Rogers, A. G., & Kelloway, E. K. (2001). Behind closed doors: in-home workers experience of sexual harassment and workplace violence. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 6(3), 2255–2269.CrossRef

Baron, R. A., Neuman, J. H., & Geddes, D. (1999). Social and personal determinants of workplace aggression: evidence for the impact of perceived injustice and the type a behavior pattern. Aggressive Behavior, 25(4), 281–296.CrossRef

Bartels, J., Pruyn, A., de Jong, M., & Joustra, I. (2007). Multiple organizational identification levels and the impact of perceived external prestige and communication climate. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(2), 173–190.CrossRef

Ben-Zur, H., & Yagil, D. (2005). The relationship between empowerment, aggressive behaviors of customers, coping and burnout. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 14(1), 81–99.CrossRef

Beugre, C. D. (2005). Understanding injustice-related aggression in organizations: a cognitive model. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(7), 1120–1136.CrossRef

Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley.

Bowling, N. A., & Beehr, T. A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim’s perspective: A theoretical model and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 998–1012.CrossRef

Branch, S., Ramsay, S., & Barker, M. (2013). Workplace bullying, mobbing and general harassment: a review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(3), 280–299.CrossRef

Braverman, M. (1999). Preventing workplace violence: a guide for employers and practitioners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Brown, T. J., & Sumner, K. E. (2006). Perceptions and punishments of workplace aggression: the role of aggression content, context, and perceiver variables. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(10), 2509–2531.CrossRef

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2005). Survey of workplace violence prevention. Retrieved July 28, 2010, from http://www.bls.gov/iif/osh_wpvs.htm.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (2006). Fatal workplace injuries in 2006: A colection of data and analysis. Retrieved July 28, 2010, from http://www.bls.gov/iif/cfoibulletin2006.htm.

Chauhan, D. S. (1999). Preventing violence in the workplace: threat assessment and prevention strategies. Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal, 4(3), 370–383.

Clampitt, P. G., & Downs, C. W. (1993). Employee perceptions of the relationship between communication and productivity. Journal of Business Communication, 30(1), 5–28.CrossRef

Conlon, D. E., Meyer, C. J., & Nowakowski, J. M. (2005). How does organizational justice affect performance, withdrawal, and counterproductive behavior? In J. Greenberg & J. A. Colquitt (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 329–354). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Cropanzano, R., & Wright, T. A. (2001). When a “happy” worker is a “productive” worker: a review and further refinement of the happy-productive worker thesis. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 53(3), 182–199.CrossRef

Dasgupta, S. A., Suar, D., & Singh, S. (2013). Impact of managerial communication styles on employees’ attitudes and behaviours. Employee Relations, 35(2), 173–199.CrossRef

Department for Professional Employees. (2012). Nursing: A profile of the profession. AFL-CIO. http://dpeaflcio.org/wp-content/uploads/Nursing-A-Profile-of-the-Profession-2012.pdf Retrieved on April 6, 2015.

Douglas, S. C., Keiwitz, C., Martinko, M. J., Harvey, P., Kim, Y., & Chun, J. (2008). Cognitions, emotions and evaluations: an elaboration likelihood model for workplace aggression. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 425–451.CrossRef

Downs, C. W., & Hazen, M. D. (1977). A factor analytic study of communication satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication, 14(3), 63–73.CrossRef

Duffy, M. K., Ganster, D. C., & Pagon, M. (2002). Social undermining in the workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 45(2), 331–352.CrossRef

Einarsen, S. (1999). The nature and causes of bullying at work. International Journal of Manpower, 20(1/2), 16–27.CrossRef

Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C. L. (2011). Bullying and harassment in the workplace: developments in theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). Tampa Bay: CRC Press.

Elloy, D. (2012). Effects of ability utilization, job influence and organization commitment on employee empowerment: an empirical study. International Journal of Management, 29(2), 627–632.

Fitzgerald, L. F., Drasgow, F., Hulin, C. L., Gelfand, M. J., & Magley, V. J. (1997). Antecedents and consequences of sexual harassment in organizations: a test of an integrated model. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(4), 578–589.CrossRef

Glomb, T. M., & Liao, H. (2003). Interpersonal aggression in work groups: social influence, reciprocal, and individual effects. Academy of Management Review, 46(4), 486–496.CrossRef

Goldberg, D. (1978). Manual of the general health questionnaire. Windsor: National Foundation for Educational Research.

Greenberg, J. (1990). Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: the hidden costs of pay cuts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75(5), 561–568.CrossRef

Hauge, L. J., Skogstad, A., & Einarsen, S. (2010). The relative impact of workplace bullying as a social stressor. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(5), 426–433.

Hodgins, M., MacCurtain, S., & Mannix-McNamara, P. (2014). Workplace bullying and incivility: a systematic review of interventions. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 7(1), 54–72.CrossRef

Hoel, H., Sheehan, M. J., Cooper, C. L., & Einarsen, S. (2011). Organisational effects of workplace bullying. In S. Einarsen, H. Hoel, D. Zapf, & C. L. Cooper (Eds.), Bullying and harassment in the workplace (2nd ed., pp. 129–148). New York: CRC Press.

Hoobler, J. M., & Swanberg, J. (2006). The enemy is not us: unexpected workplace violence trends. Public Personnel Management, 35(3), 229–246.CrossRef

Howard, J. L. (2011). Employee perceptions of perpetrators and acts of workplace violence in colleges and universities. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(5), 1034–1058.CrossRef

Howard, J. L., & Wech, B. A. (2012). A model of organizational and job environment influences on workplace violence. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 24(2), 111–127.CrossRef

Ilies, R., Fulmer, I. S., Spitzmuller, M., & Johnson, M. D. (2009). Personality and citizenship behavior: the mediating role of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), 945–959.CrossRef

Innes, M., Barling, J., & Turner, N. (2005). Understanding supervisor-targeted aggression: a within-person, between-jobs design. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 731–739.CrossRef

Jasso, G., & Rossi, P. H. (1977). Distributive justice and earned income. American Sociological Review, 42(4), 639–651.CrossRef

Jiang, J. Y., Sun, L., & Law, K. S. (2011). Job satisfaction and organization structure as moderators of the effects of empowerment on organizational citizenship behavior: a self-consistency and social exchange perspective. International Journal of Management, 28(3), 675–693.

Karriker, J. H., & Williams, M. L. (2009). Organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior: a mediated multifoci model. Journal of Management, 35(1), 112–135.CrossRef

Koberg, C. S., Boss, R. W., Senjem, J. C., & Goodman, E. A. (1999). Antecedents and outcomes of empowerment: empirical evidence from the healthcare industry. Group and Organization Management, 24(1), 71–91.CrossRef

Levy, S. (1983). A cross-cultural analysis of the structure and levels of attitudes towards acts of political protest. Social Indicators Research, 12(3), 281–309.CrossRef

Lorinkova, N. M., & Perry, S. J. (2015). When is empowerment effective? The role of leader-leader exchange in empowering leadership, cynicism, and time theft. Journal of Management. doi:10.1177/0149206314560411.

Lucero, M. A., & Allen, R. E. (2006). Implementing zero tolerance policies: balancing strict enforcement with fair treatment. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 71(1), 35–41.

Lyons, C. J. (2008). Individual perceptions and the social construction of hate crimes: a factorial survey. The Social Science Journal, 45(1), 107–131.CrossRef

Martinko, M. J., Gundlach, M., & Douglas, S. C. (2002). An attributional explication of counterproductive behavior. International Journal of Selection and Analysis, 10(1/2), 36–50.

Masterson, S. S., Lewis, K., Goldman, B. M., & Taylor, M. S. (2000). Integrating justice and social exchange: the differing effects of fair procedures and treatment on work relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 43(4), 738–748.CrossRef

Miner-Rubino, K., & Cortina, L. M. (2004). Working in a context of hostility toward women: implications for employees’ well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 9(2), 107–122.CrossRef

Mitchell, M. S., & Ambrose, M. L. (2007). Abusive supervision and workplace deviance and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 1159–1168.CrossRef

Morrison, E. W. (1996). Organizational citizenship behavior as a critical link between HRM practices and service quality. Human Resource Management, 35(4), 493–213.CrossRef

Neuman, J. H., & Baron, R. A. (1998). Workplace violence and workplace aggression: evidence concerning specific forms, potential causes, and preferred targets. Journal of Management, 24(3), 391–419.CrossRef

O’Leary-Kelly, A. M., Griffin, R. W., & Glew, D. J. (1996). Organization-motivated aggression: a research framework. Academy of Management Review, 21(1), 225–253.

Olson, B. J., Nelson, D. L., & Parayitam, S. (2006). Managing aggression in organizations: what leaders must know. Leadership and Organizational Development, 27(5), 384–398.CrossRef

Olweus, D. (1999). Bullying in Sweden. In P. K. Smith, Y. Morita, J. Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P. Slee (Eds.), The nature of school bullying (p. 11). London: Routledge.

Parzefall, M.-R., & Salin, D. M. (2010). Perceptions and reactions to workplace bullying: a social exchange perspective. Human Relations, 63(6), 761–780.CrossRef

Paternoster, R., & Simpson, S. (1996). Sanction threats and appeals to morality: testing a rational choice model of corporate crime. Law and Society Review, 30(3), 549–583.CrossRef

Peterson, R. A. (2001). On the use of college students in social science research: insights from a second-order meta-analysis. Journal of Consumer Research, 28(3), 450–461.CrossRef

Pincus, J. D. (1986). Communication satisfaction, job satisfaction and job performance. Human Communication Research, 12(3), 395–419.CrossRef

Piquero, A. R., & Hickman, M. (1999). An empirical test of Tittle’s control balance theory. Criminology, 37(2), 319–341.CrossRef

Plumley, K. (2009). Workplace violence: Risk factors, causes, and prevention of violent assault on the job. Suite101.com. Retrieved on September 24, 2009 from http://workplace-bullying.suite101.com/article.cfm/workplace_violence.

Quine, L. (1999). Workplace bullying in NHS community trust: staff questionnaire survey. British Medical Journal, 318(7178), 228–232.

Quine, L. (2001). Workplace bullying in nurses. Journal of Health Psychology, 6(1), 73–84.CrossRef

Rayner, C. (1997). The incidence of workplace bullying. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 7(3), 199–208.CrossRef

Rayner, C., & Hoel, H. (1997). A summary review of literature relating to workplace bullying. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 7(3), 181–191.CrossRef

Redding, W. C. (1973). Communication within the organization. New York: Industrial Communication Council; Lafayette, IN: Purdue Research Foundation.

Rogin, J. (2012). Missile defense agency chief harassed and bullied staff. FP. Retrieved from http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/07/03/exclusive_missile_defense_agency_chief_harassed_and_bullied_staff_investigation_fou?wp_login_redirect=0.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and wellbeing. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.CrossRef

Salin, D. (2003). Ways of explaining workplace bullying: a review of enabling, motivating and precipitating structures and processes in work environment. Human Relations, 56(10), 1213–1232.CrossRef

Siponen, M., & Vance, A. (2010). Neutralization: new insights into the problem of employee information systems security policy violations. MIS Quarterly, 34(3), 487–A12.

Skarlicki, D. P., & Folger, R. (1997). Retaliation in the workplace: the roles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(3), 434–443.CrossRef

Spreitzer, G. M. (1995). Psychological empowerment in the workplace: dimensions, measurement, and validation. Academy of Management Journal, 38(5), 1442–1465.CrossRef

Tepper, B. J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43(2), 178–190.CrossRef

Trevino, L., & Victor, B. (1992). Peer reporting of unethical behavior: a social context perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 35(1), 38–64.CrossRef

US Census Bureau. (2013). Men in nursing occupations. https://www.census.gov/people/io/files/Men_in_Nursing_Occupations.pdf. Retrieved on April 6, 2015.

van Horn, J. E., Taris, T. W., Schaufeli, W. B., & Schreurs, P. J. G. (2004). The structure of occupational well-being: a study among Dutch teachers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(3), 365–375.CrossRef

Vartia, M. (1996). The sources of bullying: psychological work environment and organizational climate. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5(2), 203–214.CrossRef

Vartia, M. (2001). Consequences of workplace bullying with respect to the well-being of its targets and the observers of bullying. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 27(1), 63–69.CrossRef

Wade, J. (2004). Reducing the threat. Risk Management, 51, 10–18.

Wade, N. (2011). Montgomery post office shooting suspect charged with 2 counts of attempted murder. Al.com. Retrieved on December 2, 2011, from http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2011/12/montgomery_post_office_shootin.html.

Workplace Bullying Institute. (2010). 2010 WBI U. S. Workplace Bullying Survey. Retrieved from http://www.workplacebullying.org/wbiresearch/2010-wbi-national-survey/.

Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2000). Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 84–94.CrossRef

Wright, T. A., & Hobfoll, S. E. (2004). Commitment, psychological well-being and job performance: an examination of conservation of resources (COR) theory and job burnout. Journal of Business and Management, 9(3), 389–406.

Wright, T. A., Cropanzano, R., & Bonett, D. G. (2007). The moderating role of employee positive well being on the relation between job satisfaction and job performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(2), 93–104.CrossRef

Zhou, L., Wang, M., Chen, G., & Shi, J. (2012). Supervisors’ upward exchange relationships and subordinate outcomes: testing the multilevel mediation role of empowerment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(3), 668–680.CrossRef

Title: Aggression and Bullying in the Workplace: It’s the Position of the Perpetrator that Influences Employees’ Reactions and Sanctioning Ratings
Authors: Jack L. Howard
Allen C. Johnston
Barbara A. Wech
James Stout
Publication date: 04-11-2015
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal / Issue 2/2016
Print ISSN: 0892-7545
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3378
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-015-9271-8

Springer Professional

Abstract

Please log in to get access to your license.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Other articles of this Issue 2/2016

Introduction to “Imagining U.S. Labor Relations without Union Security”

Imagining U.S. Labor Relations without Union Security

Employers’ Perspectives on the Canadian National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace

Machismo in Organizations: Individual Predictors & Context-Dependent Outcomes