Does the number of perpetrators matter? An extension and re-analysis of workplace bullying as a risk factor for exclusion from working life

Abstract

Based on a nationally representative sample (N = 1,613) and a true prospective design, we show that the link between self-labelled workplace bullying and exclusion from working life (i.e., becoming a non-participant in working life) over a 5-year time lag becomes stronger with increasing numbers of perpetrators involved. The amount of exposure to bullying behaviours could not explain the added effect of multiple perpetrators, indicating that the presence of multiple perpetrators is significant in and of itself. A post hoc descriptive cross-tabulation analysis also showed that when one or two perpetrators were involved at T1, the rate of exclusion from working life 5 years later did not differ substantially from the normal population's exclusion rate. When three or more perpetrators were involved, on the other hand, the exclusion rate approached 50%, indicating that ≥3 perpetrators could denote a critical cut-off point for a distinguishable group-bullying phenomenon, at least with respect to exclusion from working life.