High-involvement work practices and conflict management procedures as moderators of the workplace bullying–wellbeing relationship

Abstract

Despite the serious consequences of exposure to workplace bullying for the wellbeing of individuals and functioning of organisations, few studies have investigated how organisational practices could reduce the negative impact of bullying on employee wellbeing. In the present study, we investigate the longitudinal association of exposure to workplace bullying with depressive symptoms and sleep problems, and whether high-involvement work practices (HIWP) and conflict management (CM) procedures moderate these associations. The data for the study were drawn from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH). The final sample comprised 21,029 individuals with 45,678 person-observations from 4 waves. Longitudinal multilevel models (with study waves nested under individuals) showed that exposure to workplace bullying increased depressive symptoms and sleep problems. Furthermore, both HIWPs and CM procedures were moderators of the association between exposure to bullying and depressive symptoms and sleep problems. The results support previous findings, suggesting that workplace bullying has severe consequences for subsequent wellbeing. Moreover, it extends previous research by showing that organisational practices, such as high-involvement work practices and collaborative conflict management procedures, may act as organisational resources that buffer the negative effects of exposure to bullying on wellbeing.