Building on the three-way model of workplace bullying and its underlying theories, this study investigates the role of trait anger and trait anxiety in the link between daily interpersonal conflicts and daily exposure to bullying behaviors. Using a quantitative diary study design, we approached 57 military naval cadets participating in a tall-ship voyage across the Atlantic, from Europe to North America, in 2017. They responded to a questionnaire on a daily basis over a period of 30 days—yielding 1428 measurement points. Prior to the voyage, participants also responded to a general questionnaire including measures of trait anger and trait anxiety. As hypothesized, multilevel analyses showed positive main effects of daily interpersonal conflicts on interpersonal conflicts the next day and exposure to bullying behaviors the same day. However, daily involvement in interpersonal conflicts did not predict exposure to bullying behaviors the next day. Moreover, and in support of the hypothesized moderating effects, trait anger (but not trait anxiety) interacted positively with daily interpersonal conflicts in the prediction of interpersonal conflicts the next day as well as exposure to bullying behaviors the same day. The study suggests that interpersonal conflicts persist and have an immediate effect on exposure to bullying behaviors and that this is particularly the case for individuals high (vs. low) on trait anger. We discuss how these findings contribute to the three-way model of workplace bullying, as well as possible practical implications.
The leadership literature suggests that passive leadership undermines employee safety performance; because passive leadership behavior signals that the leader is not committed to organizational safety goals. We tested this hypothesis and investigated the role of two possible moderators, moral disengagement and intolerance of uncertainty. Participants were 78 naval cadets who responded to daily surveys during a 30 days voyage on board of a sailing ship (N occasions is 2166 for H1 and 1910 for H2– H4). The results of multilevel analyses showed as expected that a substantial portion (49%) of the daily safety non-compliance was caused by variation within each crewmember from day to day, and that an increase in daily passive avoidant leadership was related to increased daily safety non-compliance. More unexpectedly, those crewmembers high (and not low) on moral disengagement and intolerance of uncertainty were less influenced by passive avoidant leadership in terms of daily safety violations. Several explanations for the results are discussed.
Hoprekstad, Øystein Løvik; Hetland, Jørn, Bakker, Arnold B., Olsen, Olav Kjellevold, Espevik, Roar, Wessel, Martin & Einarsen, Ståle (2019)
How long does it last? Prior victimization from workplace bullying moderates the relationship between daily exposure to negative acts and subsequent depressed mood
Ågotnes, Kari Wik; Glambek, Mats, Hoprekstad, Øystein Løvik, Zahlquist, Lena Aadnevik & Einarsen, Kari (2024)
The impact of bystanders’ perceived access to resources on intervention behaviour in bullying situations
[Academic lecture]. 16th Comference of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology.
Background Workplace bullying is a prevailing workplace problem, with numerous studies documenting the detrimental impact of bullying on targets, bystanders, and organisations (Einarsen & Ågotnes, 2023). Concurrently, knowledge about the behavioural reactions of bystanders, which may have implications for how and when bullying situations persist and unfold, is still scarce. This exploratory study aims to investigate whether bystanders’ perceived access to resources at the group, department, and organisation levels will heighten the probability of bystander intervention. Specifically, it will investigate the effect of bystanders' perceived level of psychological safety, laissez-faire leadership (as a measure of a lack of department-level resources), and HR support on intervention behaviour enacted by bystanders as a reaction to a bullying situation. Method Data for the present study is part of an ongoing data collection using a convenience sample, where we have planned for three measurement points with 12-week time lags. Currently, we have completed the first round of data collection (N=756). We measured bullying intervention by asking respondents to indicate whether they had witnessed bullying behaviour enacted against co-workers during the past 12 weeks and further to indicate their behavioural response as either active/constructive (i.e., notifying the organisation, supporting the target in the situation, and/or offering support to the target at a later time) or passive (i.e., keeping away). These categories were dichotomized before our analyses so that we could compare each of the constructive behaviours to the passive behaviour separately. We performed several logistic regression analyses in SPSS, where the individuals’ perceived psychological safety, laissez-faire leadership, and HR support, respectively, were included as independent variables, and the different dichotomized categories of bystanders' intervention behaviours were included as dependent variables. We controlled for gender, leader status, and respondents’ reported exposure to negative acts. Results Results based on the cross-sectional (baseline) sample showed that individuals reporting high psychological safety were more likely to a) notify the organisation vs. keeping away (OR = 1.846, p
Zahlquist, Lena; Hetland, Jørn, Einarsen, Ståle, Bakker, Arnold B., Hoprekstad, Øystein Løvik, Espevik, Roar & Olsen, Olav Kjellevold (2019)
Daily interpersonal conflicts and exposure to daily negative acts: The moderating role of trait anger and trait anxiety
[Academic lecture]. 19th EAWOP Congress.
Hoprekstad, Øystein Løvik; Bakker, Arnold B., Olsen, Olav Kjellevold, Espevik, Roar, Wessel, Martin & Einarsen, Ståle (2017)
The Vicious Cycle of Bullying: How to Exposure to Negative Acts Undermines well-Being