ABSTRACT

Although workplace bullying has been long recognised as an organisational level phenomenon, few studies have explored how different organisational factors come together to influence bullying risk. In this study, we integrate theories on organisational psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and social information processing to understand how PSC is related to bullying exposure, mediated through leadership. We conceptualise and find support for how both organisational and supervisory factors align to shape the likelihood of bullying. Both constructive and laissez-faire leadership are incorporated into the model to explore the positive and negative pathways from PSC to bullying in a high-risk sample: 1,231 employees from 47 New Zealand public sector agencies who face high levels of emotional labour demands in their work. Findings from multilevel modelling corroborate the direct negative effect of PSC on bullying and confirm the predicted mediated pathways through both types of leadership to bullying, which is negatively associated with job satisfaction. Our findings shed light on how organisational factors at different levels combine to influence bullying, highlighting the potential (and need) for a multi-faceted approach to the prevention of bullying and mitigation of its negative effects.

摘要

尽管工作场所欺凌长期以来一直被认为是一种组织层面的现象，但很少有研究探讨不同的组织因素如何共同影响欺凌风险。在这项研究中，我们整合了关于组织心理社会安全氛围 (PSC) 和社会信息处理的理论，以了解 PSC 如何与通过领导力调节的欺凌暴露相关联。我们对组织和监督因素如何协调以塑造欺凌的可能性进行概念化并找到支持。建设性和自由放任的领导都被纳入模型，以探索从 PSC 到高风险样本中欺凌的积极和消极途径：来自 47 个新西兰公共部门机构的 1,231 名员工，他们在工作中面临高水平的情感劳动需求. 多层次建模的结果证实了 PSC 对欺凌的直接负面影响，并证实了通过两种类型的领导到欺凌的预测介导途径，这与工作满意度呈负相关。我们的研究结果揭示了不同级别的组织因素如何结合起来影响欺凌，突出了采取多方面方法来预防欺凌和减轻其负面影响的潜力（和需要）。