Workplace bullying is a prevalent problem with severe outcomes for exposed employees as well as for organizations. The overarching aims of the project were: 1) To determine the mechanisms that explain how and when workplace bullying occurs and develops, as well as how and when it impacts those targeted. 2) To develop and evaluate sound and effective methods to prevent and manage cases of bullying at the workplace and methods to rehabilitate and treat the health-related problems of targeted individuals.
In terms of research design, we use work environment surveys in organizations and longitudinal and representative samples following workers over 1 to 5 years. Connecting such data to saliva samples we study the role of genetics in the development of health problems in targets following bullying. We study underlying biological mechanisms health in a resident-intruder model where young rats are exposed to a bullying-resembling situations daily for a week comparing weight, blood samples and samples of brain tissue in these with a control group of "non- bullied" rats. We have evaluated the effect of clinical treatment of targets and a preventive intervention focusing on bystanders employing a quasi-experimental design.
The project has a wide range of interesting, useful, and even surprising findings. Exposure to workplace bullying is related to both individual and organizational factors. Yet, role stressors, work related demands and interpersonal conflicts are the main risk factors, in particular in combination with laissez-faire forms of leadership. Non-prototypical employees face a particular risk as do employees high on trait anger and trait anxiety. Yet, these risk factors mainly play a role when in troublesome working environments. When role-stressors are low, no relationships are found between trait anger and trait anxiety and reports exposure to bullying and harassment. Role-stressors are however related to bullying for more or less all employees.
An organization´s HR systems and their ethical infrastructure, that is the formal and informal systems that aim to prevent and ease the management of unethical behavior, in our case bullying/harassment, seem to be highly important both in order to prevent bullying in the first place, to secure a fair and swift handling of bullying complaints, to reduce the negative effect of bullying and to reduce the risk posed by other well known risk factors in the psychosocial working environment. In particular, climate for conflict management, climate of fairness and strong anti-bullying norms, that is employees´ perception that the organization and its managers have fair and reasonable procedures and competence when it comes to handle interpersonal conflicts at the workplace, reduces both bullying and protects the target against loss of motivation and intentions to leave one´s employment.
A special focus has been on the potential constructive role of colleagues as bystanders for targets. A study also shows that intervening as a bystander in bullying-like situation may benefit both target and the bystander. An organizational intervention, called "Intervene", has therefore been developed based on theories on bystanders, and tested and evaluated with the aim to motivate colleagues to intervene effectively in early phases of observed bullying. Preliminary analysis show positive evaluations and a change in the culture of the organization.
Somewhat surprising, the relationship between exposure to bullying and the target´s health and well-being is mainly there for employees with personality factors and coping mechanisms that are normally found to secure good health and positive coping with stress. Those considered vulnerable from an individual perspective already seem already to have existing health-related problems and is apparently not affected to the same degree. When bullying is highly intense, all targeted seem to report similar levels of health and well-being problems. A study over 5 years showed that low intensity, yet ongoing bullying reduced individual hardiness. Yet, genetic variants may explain the kinds of, and level of health problems developed when exposed to bullying, looking at pain, anxiety and sleep problems. Three genes have so far been shown to be involved in the development of such health problems among those targeted.
Interventions to reduce bullying should be conducted on a workplace level not only to protect vulnerable workers, but also to protect healthy and resilient workers. Interventions are important both to prevent bullying but also to treat the health-related aftermaths. A study in a mental health clinic showed that as many as 25% of the patients had experiences with bullying at work, presenting them with more severe symptoms than did other patients. Yet, a general psychological treatment procedure works also for patients with bullying experiences, yet these patients need more help in returning to work than do other patient groups.
«Workplace bullying: From mechanisms and moderators to problem treatment» har hatt fire overordnede hovedmål: 1) å bidra til en økt forståelse av og mer forskningsbasert kunnskap om mobbing og trakassering i arbeidslivet som fenomen, dets årsaker og konsekvenser, 2) å utføre forskning av høy internasjonal kvalitet innen temaet og videreutvikle en ledende forskningsgruppe innen denne tematikken,3) å bidra til utvikling av anvendte tiltak rettet mot forebygging og håndtering og 4) bidra til den norske og internasjonale diskursen om mobbing i arbeidslivet basert på solid teoretisk og metodisk forankret forskning.
Måloppnåelsen har vært svært god på alle områder; vitenskapelig, anvendt og med tanke på formidling og spredning av resultatene fra prosjektet. Vi har publisert godt over 70 vitenskapelige artikler i anerkjente fagfellevurderte internasjonale tidsskrifter. Vi har produsert og bidratt med data til hele seks PhD-avhandlinger, hvorav fire er direkte finansiert av prosjektet, mens to har vært del av prosjektet. Videre har prosjektet ledet frem til ett nytt PhD prosjekt med finansiering fra UiB og med oppstart i primo 2022. I tillegg til en rekke primærstudier med originaldata har prosjektgruppen utarbeidet flere systematiske kunnskapsoppsummeringer og meta-analyser, samt diskusjonsartikler. En av disse diskusjonsartiklene (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2018) har allerede oppnådd 327 siteringer og dermed hatt stor betydning for forskningsfeltet (Google Schoolar). Ved prosjektavslutning er det fortsatt en rekke nye artikler innsendt til tidsskrift eller under arbeid og ferdigstillelse. Det er også samlet inn data til videre publisering i årene som kommer.
Vi har publisert flere bøker og en rekke bokkapitler som inneholder funn og resultater fra prosjektet (på norsk, svensk og engelsk), herunder den internasjonale håndboken «Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Theory, research and practice, CRC Press/ Taylor and Francis», redigert av Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf og Cooper, samt tredje og reviderte utgave av den norske læreboken «Håndtering av Konflikter og trakassering i arbeidslivet: Jus og Psykologi). Videre har vi levert en rekke bokkapitler til norske og internasjonale fagbøker, lærebøker og antologier, der disse er rettet både mot et bredere publikum og mot forskere, praktikere og studenter. Prosjektpartnerne har også holdt en lang rekke foredrag og presentasjon knyttet til resultater fra undersøkelsen, igjen både nasjonalt og internasjonalt. Vi har hatt innlegg på internasjonal og nasjonale konferanser og seminarer i Norge, USA, Danmark, Frankrike, Kypros, Italia, Irland. Noen innlegg har foregått online og har vært distribuert til deltagere fra hele Europa. Prosjektet arrangerte i 2022 et avslutningsseminar i Bergen hvor den internasjonale fagekspertisen på temaet var samlet for kunnskapsdeling og diskusjon om fagfeltets videre utvikling. Her deltok det ledende innen feltet fra Norge/Scandinavia, Tyskland, Canda, Spania og Be-Ne-Lux landene.
Workplace bullying has been established as a prevalent social stressor with severe detrimental outcomes for exposed employees, organizations, and the society at large. Compared to other well-known psychosocial work stressors, bullying seems to have particularly strong relationships with both health problems and sick leave. While the prevalence rates and outcomes of workplace bullying are relatively well-established, there is a striking lack of knowledge about mechanisms and conditions (mediators and moderators) that may explain how and when bullying arises, develops, and impacts those exposed, as well as on interventions against bullying. The project overarching aims is:
1) To determine mechanisms (mediating and moderating factors) that influence and explain how and when workplace bullying occurs and develops, as well as how and when it impacts those targeted.
2) To develop and evaluate sound and effective methods to prevent and manage cases of bullying at the workplace and to rehabilitate and treat targeted individuals.
3) To build and maintain an internationally leading research team
The current project has a multi-methodological and cross-disciplinary approach employing cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data, experimental designs, animal models, qualitative interviews, diary studies, and clinical assessments. The mediating and moderating factors may be classified according to individual level, organization level, or society level and several factors are transactions between levels. Furthermore, both biological/medical, psychological, and social factors determine how workplace bullying occurs, develops, and impacts those involved. Consequently, we employ a biopsychosocial perspective. The project comprises six subprojects focusing on individual and psychosocial mechanism involved in the onset and outcomes of bullying, group processes that may predict bullying, and interventions at both the individual and organizational level.