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Strategic Silencing: A Political Perspective on the Workplace Bully–Bystander Relationship

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Special topics and particular occupations, professions and sectors

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment ((HWBEAH,volume 4))

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Abstract

Despite the detrimental consequences of workplace bullying, little research has been done on the relationship between bullies and bystanders. This chapter provides insight into this matter by investigating the role of political will as a motivating factor and political skill as an enabling individual characteristic in the context of workplace bullying. More specifically, we argue that when bystanders perceive their political will to exceed the assessed risk, they will engage in upstander behaviours. Yet, politically skilled bullies can exaggerate the risk perceived by bystanders through tactics such as strategic silencing and mechanisms of ostracism, thus leading bystanders to be less likely to stand up to them. Nonetheless, bystanders can also utilize their political skill to more accurately assess the risk associated with intervening, therefore making upstander behaviours more probable. We also discuss additional considerations and future research directions.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Daemen College, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Darren C. Treadway

  2. University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Huiru Yang

  3. University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jun Yang

  4. Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Allison B. Duke

  5. California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Jeffrey R. Bentley

Authors
  1. Darren C. Treadway
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  2. Huiru Yang
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  3. Jun Yang
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  4. Allison B. Duke
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  5. Jeffrey R. Bentley
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Darren C. Treadway .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Organizational Behaviour (OB), Indian Institute of Management Organizational Behaviour (OB), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

    Premilla D'Cruz

  2. Organisation Behaviour, Indian Inst of Mgnt Ahmedabad Organisation Behaviour, Ahmedabad, India

    Ernesto Noronha

  3. Wayne State University, Department of Communication Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Loraleigh Keashly

  4. Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Stacy Tye-Williams

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Treadway, D.C., Yang, H., Yang, J., Duke, A.B., Bentley, J.R. (2019). Strategic Silencing: A Political Perspective on the Workplace Bully–Bystander Relationship. In: D'Cruz, P., Noronha, E., Keashly, L., Tye-Williams, S. (eds) Special topics and particular occupations, professions and sectors. Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, vol 4. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5154-8_23-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5154-8_23-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5154-8

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