Mobbing: A Qualitative Analysis of Cases from Turkish White-Collar Employees

The impacts of workplace bullying on employees can be psychological as well as physical, and in turn affect organizations. Mobbing is a relatively new research area in Turkey, where there is need for more academic studies. In order to better understand the reasons lying behind workplace bullying and to generate effective policy recommendations, we aim to go beyond general conceptions towards a more detailed analysis of organizational as well as personal contexts in this paper. Using a convenience sampling method, we made 17 interviews with full-time white-collar workers in different sectors. We adopted an inductive approach, in which we aim to reach some general conclusions about mobbing experiences of white-collar employees. There are many possible and usually multiple causes of workplace bullying; causes within the organization, the perpetrator, the victim or the social environment, which are often interconnected. Our findings indicated that workers, who are relationally less powerful, are more likely to be victimized. This group includes those with little professional experience, lower positions, and those of minority status.