Perceptions and Experience of Workplace Bullying in Five Different Working Populations

Abstract

Whilst aggression in the workplace has been systematically studied in recent years, research into workplace bullying per se still remains quite limited. In this article, we report the findings from an investigation into employees' perceptions of social and organizational work conditions and experiences of bullying at work. Six-hundred-seventy-seven employees from five different working populations (managers, teachers, technicians, call centre operators, and engineers) completed the Workplace Relationships Questionnaire (WRQ). This paper presents the results of the analysis, linking the experiences of bullying and perceptions of social and organizational work conditions. The present findings predictably identify victims and non-bullied participants, and also indicate the existence of a new category of employee affected by the problem of bullying; bullied/non-victims. Bullied/non-victims may provide crucial insights into the ways that company practices and policies impact negatively on the whole workforce. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.