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Pathways of Job-related Negative Behaviour pp 1–24Cite as

Consequences of Workplace Bullying for Individuals, Organizations and Society

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Part of the book series: Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment ((HWBEAH,volume 2))

Abstract

The past three to four decades have provided solid evidence that workplace bullying can be a severe stressor that may affect the mental and physiological health as well as the well-being of the targets. Other consequences of workplace bullying remain, however, widely unexplored. The goal of the present chapter is to provide a state-of-the-art overview of the existing international evidence about the different effects of workplace bullying that, reaching beyond reduced individual well-being and poor mental and physiological health, focus on the further consequences for individuals, organizations and society. To this end, the chapter begins by introducing the key theoretical approaches within this field of research, including Leymann’s model of the development of workplace bullying, the transactional theory of stress, the cognitive activation theory of stress (CATS), the stress-as-offence-to-self (SOS) perspective, the structural empowerment theory and the self-determination theory (SDT). After this introduction, the chapter summarizes the existing research investigating the impact of workplace bullying on a diverse array of individual, organizational and societal problems, including sickness absence, job turnover, unemployment and drop-out from a trade, early retirement and disability retirement, quality of care and patient safety in the healthcare sector as well as suicidal ideation and suicidal behaviour. The concluding remarks outline the main gaps in the current knowledge and discuss future research directions that are needed to enrich our understanding of the individual, organizational and societal consequences of workplace bullying. Finally, the limitations of the present chapter are highlighted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Annie Hogh, Lotte Bickmann & Paul Maurice Conway

  2. National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Thomas Clausen & Åse Marie Hansen

  3. Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Åse Marie Hansen

  4. School of Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Marianne Baernholdt

Authors
  1. Annie Hogh
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  2. Thomas Clausen
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  3. Lotte Bickmann
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  4. Åse Marie Hansen
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  5. Paul Maurice Conway
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  6. Marianne Baernholdt
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Correspondence to Annie Hogh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

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

    Premilla D'Cruz

  2. Organizational Behaviour, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Organizational Behaviour, Ahmedabad, India

    Ernesto Noronha

  3. Faculty of Economics and Business, KU Leuven Faculty of Economics and Business, Brussels, Brussels Hoofdst.ge., Belgium

    Elfi Baillien

  4. School of Management, North Shore MSC, Massey University School of Management, North Shore MSC, Auckland, New Zealand

    Bevan Catley

  5. The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Karen Harlos

  6. Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen Department of Psychology, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Annie Hogh

  7. Gemzoe Consult, Aarhus, Denmark

    Eva Gemzoe Mikkelsen

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Hogh, A., Clausen, T., Bickmann, L., Hansen, Å.M., Conway, P.M., Baernholdt, M. (2019). Consequences of Workplace Bullying for Individuals, Organizations and Society. In: D'Cruz, P., et al. Pathways of Job-related Negative Behaviour. Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6173-8_8-1

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