Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims : A Proactive Approach for Human Resource Managers [1 ed.] 9783031410321, 9783031410307

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SpringerBriefs in Psychology Jillian Williamson Yarbrough

Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims A Proactive Approach for Human Resource Managers

SpringerBriefs in Psychology

SpringerBriefs present concise summaries of cutting-edge research and practical applications across a wide spectrum of fields. Featuring compact volumes of 55 to 125 pages, the series covers a range of content from professional to academic. Typical topics might include: • A timely report of state-of-the-art analytical techniques • A bridge between new research results as published in journal articles and a contextual literature review • A snapshot of a hot or emerging topic • An in-depth case study or clinical example • A presentation of core concepts that readers must understand to make independent contributions SpringerBriefs in Psychology showcase emerging theory, empirical research, and practical application in a wide variety of topics in psychology and related fields. Briefs are characterized by fast, global electronic dissemination, standard publishing contracts, standardized manuscript preparation and formatting guidelines, and expedited production schedules.

Jillian Williamson Yarbrough

Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims A Proactive Approach for Human Resource Managers

Jillian Williamson Yarbrough Management, Marketing, and Business West Texas A&M University Canyon, TX, USA

ISSN 2192-8363     ISSN 2192-8371 (electronic) SpringerBriefs in Psychology ISBN 978-3-031-41032-1    ISBN 978-3-031-41030-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Paper in this product is recyclable.

Thank you to my family, Jason, Jason Clay, Julia, Jamie, Walton, Judy, Walton Ross, Amanda, and Walton Robert.

Preface

This book offers a unique perspective on acknowledging and empowering victims of workplace bullying, including a step-by-step guide to understanding victims of workplace bullying through five critical needs-based theories by Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, Harry Stack-Sullivan, and Karen Horney. Finally, the book includes firsthand stories of workplace bullying victimization to communicate the experiences and the significance of identifying diverse solutions. Canyon, TX, USA

Jillian Williamson Yarbrough

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Contents

1

Introduction to the Book ������������������������������������������������������������������������    1

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Both Short- and Long-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying on Organizational Success ������������������������������������������������������    3 Definition of Workplace Bullying��������������������������������������������������������������    3 Short-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying��������������������������������������    4 Long-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying��������������������������������������    6 Negative Health Implications��������������������������������������������������������������������    6 Create a Culture of Silence������������������������������������������������������������������������    7 Negative Work Outcomes��������������������������������������������������������������������������    7 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    7 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������    8

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Discussion of Current Policies and Procedures to Address Workplace Bullying���������������������������������������������������������������������������������   11 United States Department of Labor-Occupational Safety and Health Administration ������������������������������������������������������������������������   11 Federal Laws����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   12 Professional Organizations and Government Agencies ����������������������������   13 The Workplace Bullying Institute��������������������������������������������������������������   13 Agency Responsibilities in Addressing Workplace Bullying��������������������   13 Managers and Supervisors Have a Responsibility in Maintaining a Safe Work Environment��������������������������������������������������������������������������   14 Literature����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   14 Conclusions������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   15 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   15

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 verview of Needs-Based Theories as Solution for Minimizing O Workplace Bullying�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������  17 Causes of Bullying Behaviors��������������������������������������������������������������������   18 Sociopsychological Causes of Victimhood������������������������������������������������   19 Consequences Experienced by Adult Perpetrators������������������������������������   20 ix

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Contents

Consequences Experienced by Adult Victims��������������������������������������������   22 Current Assessments Used to Understand Bullying Characteristics����������   23 Appendix (Tables 4.1 and 4.2) ������������������������������������������������������������������   25 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   26 5

Alfred Adler and Adlerian Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying����������������������   31 Managerial Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   32 Real-World Scenario����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   33 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   35 Appendix (Figs. 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3) ������������������������������������������������������������   36 Reference ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   37

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Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   39 Managerial Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   40 Lacking in Safety ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   41 Lacking in Love/Belonging at Work������������������������������������������������������   42 Esteem����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   42 Real World Scenario����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   42 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   44 Appendix (Figs. 6.1 and 6.2) ��������������������������������������������������������������������   45 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   45

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David McClelland and the Theory of Needs in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying ����������������������������������������������������������������������������   47 Managerial Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   48 Real World Scenario����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   49 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   52 Appendix (Fig. 7.1)������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   52 Reference ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   52

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Harry Stack-Sullivan and the Interpersonal Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying ����������������������������������������������������������������������������   53 Managerial Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   54 Real World Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   56 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   58 Appendix (Figs. 8.1 and 8.2) ��������������������������������������������������������������������   59 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   59

Contents

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Karen Horney and the Theory of Neurotic Needs in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying ��������������������������������������������������������������������������    61 Managerial Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   62 Real World Application������������������������������������������������������������������������������   64 Conclusion ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   66 Appendix (Table 9.1 and Fig. 9.1) ������������������������������������������������������������   66 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   67

10 C  omprehensive Review of the Theories and Application Scenarios ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   69 Appendix (Fig. 10.1)����������������������������������������������������������������������������������   72 References��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   72 11 Conclusion��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  73 Reference ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   74 12 C  ase Studies for Application ������������������������������������������������������������������   75 Case Studies for Application Practice��������������������������������������������������������   75 Case Study 1������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   75 Case Study 2������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   76 Case Study 3������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   76 Case Study 4������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������   77 Index��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������  79

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Book

I have seen many things as a professional working in academic and industrial management and human resources for over 25 years. I have seen organizations achieve goals that were considered impossible through the perseverance of talented employees and an unwavering commitment to organizational missions. I have also seen organizations and employees face insurmountable challenges that did not end well. In fact, in human resources, we are often called upon to address employee challenges that are potentially going to end in termination. Each time an employee has to be terminated or an employee voluntarily leaves, I wonder, “How might this scenario have gone differently?” As a proponent of exit interviews, I often had the answer to this question, and more often than not, when employees voluntarily left an organization or had to be terminated, they were experiencing conflict within the organization. Conflict between employees is a serious and significant issue that must be addressed. This is a fact recognized by practitioners and academics alike. And as we collectively delve into workplace conflict, workplace bullying comes up as a significant employee concern more and more. Human resource professionals, managers, and organizational leaders cannot afford to be uninformed about workplace bullying, and proactive steps must be taken to support a positive work culture within their departments and organizations. Workplace bullying has been a topic of discussion and significantly reviewed in the literature since the 1980s. In over four decades, academics and industrial leaders have explored and defined workplace bullying, examined characteristics of the workplace bully, applied psychology to understand the bully behavior, created policies and procedures for minimizing and handling workplace bullying, and created workplace bullying training programs. Despite definitions, awareness, research, and training, the phenomenon persists. Maybe it is time for a new approach to addressing workplace bullying. Rather than examining and addressing the workplace bully, what if we seek to understand and support the workplace bullying victim? © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_1

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1  Introduction to the Book

The following book seeks to uncover potential support for workplace victimization through an examination of employees’ needs and needs-based motivation theories. Based on contemporary research and long-standing needs-based theories, the author outlines how workplace bullying victims’ needs can be identified and how victims of workplace harassment can be empowered through the development and attainment of their unmet needs. The author calls for the consideration of a managerial shift in practice regarding workplace bullying and harassment. Specifically, based on contemporary research, needs-based theories, and the authors’ conclusions, managers will be prepared to contemplate a proactive developmental approach to employees’ needs by seeking to empower victims of workplace mistreatment. Broadly speaking, this book will support management and human resources students and practitioners as they develop positive workplace cultures. The book will be of interest to psychology students and practitioners examining lacking needs as motivators for workplace bullying or harassment. Finally, the book may be of value to victims of workplace bullying offering diverse potential support and solutions that may help assess, measure, or prevent victim experiences in the future. Specifically, the book is designed to support human resources students and human resources practitioners. As a human resources professional for over 20 years, I have observed that a significant amount of time is lost within organizations due to employee conflict. In recent years, employers and employees alike are framing the ongoing conflict as workplace bullying. Human resources leaders who can proactively minimize workplace bullying will create a competitive advantage for their organization in terms of recruitment and retention. This book will help current and future HR managers recognize the opportunity of caring for and supporting their workplace bullying victims such that the workplace bullying victim is acknowledged and empowered within their organization. It should be noted that human resources should respond to workplace bullying based on organizational workplace bullying policies and procedures. The workplace bully generally needs development, discipline, and sometimes termination. This book is not suggesting that the human resources manager only responds to the workplace bullying victim, rather this book and the strategies within have the purpose of acknowledging and empowering workplace bullying victims, in addition to any disciplinary or developmental procedures necessary for the workplace bully. This book intends to communicate that the victim of workplace bullying should not be blamed but rather empowered.

Chapter 2

Both Short- and Long-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying on Organizational Success

Empowering workplace bullying victims and creating workplace environments where bullying is not tolerated requires managerial awareness, planning, communication, and motivation. With this in mind, and as a foundation for addressing workplace bullying behaviors, a clear definition of workplace bullying is needed in addition to an overview of both the short- and long-term implications. Organizational leadership needs a definition of workplace bullying and measures implications of bullying outcomes to facilitate employee interest and energy in reducing victimizing behaviors. For this reason, a brief discussion on the short- and long-term implications of workplace bullying will be discussed.

Definition of Workplace Bullying Everyone has experienced or observed bullying in childhood. Some might say, bullying, one child or a group of children teaming up to tease another child, on the school playground is a rite of passage we must all experience. The teasing may be unprovoked, and the victim is often powerless to stop the teasing on their own. When adults observe these behaviors in children, sometimes they ignore the events, sometimes the victim is told to “toughen up,” and possibly an adult might step in and separate the children. While ignoring or minimizing these events immediately seems reasonable, it is unrealistic to assume that these behaviors are benign and that they will resolve themselves. When faced with bullying, shouldn’t we engage in an exploration of critical questions like the following: Could these early behaviors, of both bully and victim, indicate future issues? What causes one child to bully another? What causes the victim to allow the dynamic to continue? Are bullying behaviors in childhood indicative of future adult aggressions?

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_2

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2  Both Short- and Long-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying on Organizational…

Bullying can be defined as repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior that can cause serious lasting damage and problems (WBI, 2018); in fact, bullying is a serious issue that is surrounded by complicated concepts. Some research shows that bullying is not just a childhood issue; rather, many bullies and victims carry these behaviors into adulthood (Pontzer, 2010). Adult bullying began to gain attention in the early 1990s, and interestingly, prevalence rates of workplace bullying has been on the rise ever since with adult victims’ rates at 8.9% in the 1990s (Einarsen et al., 1996), 28% in the 2000s (Lutgen-Sandvik et al., 2007), 35% in the 2010s (Workplace Bullying Institute, 2010), and most recently at 60% (Nagele-Piazza, 2018). Signs of workplace bullying can include berating people, coercing people to do things they do not want to do, dismissing someone’s work, embarrassing co-workers, excluding co-workers, intimidating others, lying at work, making snide remarks, minimizing concerns, threatening co-workers, unfair criticism, and taking credit for other people’s work (Nielsen et al., 2014). From a research perspective, it is clear that bullying is not an isolated childhood event, and it is not an rarity. Rather, bullying is an experience that can occur at any age with great intensity and impact for the perpetrator and the target. In fact, some researchers believe that consequences increase with age. Adult victims are at risk for poor physical/mental health and reduced adaptation to adult roles including forming lasting relationships, integrating into work, and being economically independent (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). With increased awareness of bullying and victim behaviors, many researchers are seeking not only to define bullying but also to understand the root causes of bullying and to identify solutions that can help manage and prevent bullying and victimhood from becoming lifelong individual characteristics.

Short-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying Bullying in the workplace will negatively impact the work environment and the employees both in the short and long term. It is important to frame these implications to gain motivation for policy and behavioral changes. First, let’s examine short-term, brief or less than one year, consequences for workplace bullying, from both the victim’s and the bully’s perspective. The victim of workplace bullying may have trouble concentrating, have a loss of self-esteem, experience trouble making decisions, maintain lower productivity, avoid the bully, ruminate about the situation, experience feelings of isolation, and/ or spend significant amounts of work time trying to deal with the situation (Robert, 2018). One victim of workplace bullying describes her experience as “It’s like I’m stuck,” she says. “I don’t know what to do. I am sick, and I can’t change this person. I don’t want to lose my job,” (2010, p. 1). This victim is describing significant distress, mixed with hopelessness and sickness. The employee clearly cannot complete their job tasks at an optimal level, and if the employee remains with the organization, they will require time to heal or take care of themselves to return to optimal

Short-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying

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output (Casey, 2011). To understand short-term implications of workplace bullying further, let’s examine some literature. Rodriguez-Munoz et al. (2020) completed a weekly diary study to identify the trajectories of workplace bullying over time. From a sample of 286 employees during a 4-week period, the study found that while insomnia was a long-lasting impact of bullying, anxiety and depression were short term and decreased over time. The researchers conclude that victims of workplace bullying not only need legal advice and counseling, but they should also receive training in skills support to manage health-related negative consequences. Rodriguz-Munoz et  al. (2022) conducted a second study and identified that workplace bullying is one of the most relevant social stressors at work and the research team focused their study on short-term consequences of workplace bullying. The research team conducted a multisource-weekly-diary study with 124 employees and their spouses filling out a general survey and weekly-only survey for four weeks. From an analysis of the diaries, the researchers concluded that workplace bullying is associated with emotional exhaustion and behaviors that undermine relationships at home. Further, the victims of workplace bullying ruminated, and the rumination was detrimental to their interpersonal connections. It is important to note that the victim is not the only employee that may become unproductive or harmed in the workplace bullying experience. The perpetrator of workplace bullying may also experience negative implications like poor work performance, difficulty maintaining working relationships, and increased distraction at work. There have been fewer studies examining the workplace bullying perpetrator’s experience, likely because few people are willing to self-identify and discuss the experience of being a workplace bully. However, Pilch and Turska (2015) examined the relationship between Machiavellianism and workplace bullying from both the target and the perpetrator’s perspective. The study examined 117 workers employed at different locations in Poland. The participants completed a Machiavellianism personality factor created by Cameron and Quinn (2005). The sample identified themselves as either being a victim of or a perpetrator of workplace bullying, and the study found that individuals involved in workplace bullying, both the target and the perpetrator, had higher Machiavellianism levels than those individuals not involved in workplace bullying. Machiavellianism is described as a duplicitous interpersonal style connected with cynical beliefs regarding people and the social world, egocentric motivation, and pragmatic morality (Christie & Geis, 1970). Individuals high in Machiavellianism treat partners instrumentally and aim at the realization of their own goals with every possible means with a high priority on money, power, and competition (Stewart & Stewart, 2006). The researchers concluded that Machiavellian employees would bully others when they come to a conclusion that they may benefit from bullying. In terms of outcomes, the workplace bully will have a cynical view of their workplace, may experience less meaning in their work, may have less satisfying working relationships, and facilitate an increasingly aggressive work experience.

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2  Both Short- and Long-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying on Organizational…

Based on an examination of several contemporary studies, it is clear that workplace bullying experiences can be detrimental to the target, the bully, the co-­workers, and the organization in the short term.

Long-Term Implications of Workplace Bullying There is more literature examining the long-term implications of workplace bullying with many concluding that there are negative consequences for the organization, the employees, and the community. Certainly, an organization that allows workplace bullying to be prevalent over time will create a hostile work environment, possibly increase worker compensation claims, promote absenteeism, reduce productivity, result in legal issues, increase costs associated with recruitment and retention, reduce employee loyalty, increase employee usage of sick leave, and contribute to a poor public image (Einarsen et al., 1996). These are not organizational traits that support optimal production or even necessary organizational innovation. In addition to organizational challenges, long-term workplace bullying has significant negative consequences for employees, including negative health implications, the development of a culture of silence, and negative work outcomes.

Negative Health Implications There is a significant amount of literature documenting that long-term exposure to workplace bullying can have negative health impacts on employees. Bjorkelo (2013) examines both workplace bullying and whistleblowing together and suggests implications as to how to deal with health consequences that can develop after such workplace experiences. First, research does support that there is a link between whistleblowing and workplace bullying that can be devastating to one’s health causing depression, feelings of being ignored, feelings of social isolation, sleep disorders, anxiety, and even a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder. The author recommends building awareness of workplace bullying in the organizational culture and maintaining proactive organizational policies that minimize workplace bullying and retaliation. The negative health consequences of workplace bullying, short and long term, are well documented. But, beyond health, there is a real potential for employees of workplace bullying to consider suicide. Conway et  al. (2022) analyzed whether individuals reporting exposure to workplace bullying had higher risks of suicidal behavior, both attempts and death. The research team linked data from nine Danish questionnaire-based surveys to a national register examining both exposure to workplace bullying and hospital registers and cause of death registers. The sample consisted 98,330 participants, 63.6% women, and a mean age of 44.5. Of these, 10,259 reported workplace bullying and, over 7  years, 184 cases of suicidal

Conclusion

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behaviors, 145 attempts and 39 deaths. The results indicate that exposure to workplace bullying is related to elevated risk of suicidal behavior.

Create a Culture of Silence In addition to negative health consequences, workplace bullying can lead to an organizational culture of silence that has many long-term implications. Rai and Agarwal (2018) examined the effects of workplace bullying on employee silence, such as defensive, relationship, and ineffectual silence, specifically looking at the mediating role of psychological contract violence (PCV). Collecting data from 835 full-time Indian managerial employees working at different locations, the researcher found that there is a bullying-silence relationship and that workplace friendships could moderate this relationship. In other workers, the employee silence experience was weaker for employees with higher workplace friendships. The researchers call upon a well-formulated and effectively implemented anti-bullying policy and managers that encourage employees to speak up if they see or experience workplace bullying.

Negative Work Outcomes Certainly, individual employees have negative outcomes when they are the target of workplace bullying. But the target is not the only employee to suffer. Workplace bullying can create an organization or department that has negative work outcomes. Chowdhury et al. (2019) examined whether urology residents in the United States felt bullied by nurses at work. The researchers issued a revised Negative Acts Questionnaire to US Urology to 102 residents in their first year of residency and evaluated the scores. The participants were also given a Likert scale measurement describing how valued they felt at work. About 82.4% and 77.5% of residents reported at least one incident of work intimidation-related bullying. Residents experiencing workplace bullying feared retaliation and considered transferring programs. Lower scores of workplace bullying incidents were observed among residents who had resident-nurse relationships that were nurtured. About 90% of the residents that perceived bullying in their work reported negative impacts on their personal and professional outcomes.

Conclusion Since the 1980s, workplace bullying has received increased attention from academics and industry leaders alike. We now have over four decades of literature exploring this issue in both private and public sectors, and the literature has several common

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conclusions. Victims of workplace bullying often feel devalued, oppressed, and unsafe suffering in silence with physical, emotional, and psychological damage that can jeopardize the organization and the organizational stakeholders (Shorey & Wong, 2021). Workplace bullying will result in both short- and long-term negative outcomes for the target, the bully, and the organization. Unchecked workplace bullying will result in an organizational culture that silences rather than supports employees. While the literature is clear regarding the significant negative outcomes, workplace bullying persists. With this in mind, the remainder of this book will be dedicated to presenting a unique perspective on acknowledging and empowering victims of workplace bullying. Offering a step-by-step guide to understanding victims of workplace bullying through five critical needs-based theories are Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, Harry Stack-Sullivan, and Karen Horney. Finally, this includes firsthand stories of workplace bullying victimization to communicate the experiences and the significance of identifying diverse solutions.

References Bjorkelo, B. (2013). Workplace bullying after whistleblowing: Future research and implications. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 28(3), 306–323. https://doi. org/10.1108/02683941311321178 Cameron, K., & Quinn, R. (2005). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture. Prentice Hall. Casey, L. (2011). Workplace bullies can ruin lives, face little consequences. Sunday Gazette-Mail. Chowdhury, M., Husainat, M. M., & Suson, K. D. (2019). Workplace bullying of urology residents: Implications for the patient and provider. Urology (Ridgewood, N.J.), 127, 30–35. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.urology.2018.11.062 Christie, R., & Geis, F. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. Academic Press. Conway, P., Erlangsen, A., Grynderup, M.  B., Clausen, T., Rugulies, R., Bjorner, J.  B., Burr, H., Francioli, L., Garde, A.  H., Hansen, Å. M., Hanson, L.  M., Kirchheiner-Rasmussen, J., Kristensen, T.  S., Mikkelsen, E.  G., Stenager, E., Thorsen, S.  V., Villadsen, E., & Høgh, A. (2022). Workplace bullying and risk of suicide and suicide attempts: A register-based prospective cohort study of 98 330 participants in Denmark. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 48(6), 425–434. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.4034 Einarsen, S., Skogstad, A., Rørvik, E., Lande, A., & Nielsen, M. (1996). Climate for conflict management, exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: A moderated. Mediated analysis. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(3), 549–570. https://doi. org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1164216 Lutgen-Sandvik, P., Tracy, S. J., & Alberts, J. K. (2007). Burned by bullying in the workplace: Prevalence, perception, degree and impact. Journal of Management Studies, 44(6), 837–862. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-­6486.2007.00715.x Nagele-Piazza, L. (2018). Workplace bullying and harassment: What’s the difference? Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/legal-­and-­ compliance/state-­and-­local-­updates/Pages/workplace-­bullying.aspx Nielsen, M., Magerøy, N., Gjerstad, J., & Einarsen, S. (2014). Workplace bullying and subsequent health problems. Tidsskr Nor Laegegoren, 134(12–13), 1233–1238. https://doi.org/10.4045/ tidsskr.13.0880 Pilch, I., & Turska, E. (2015). Relationships between Machiavellianism, organizational culture, and workplace bullying: Emotional abuse from the target’s and the perpetrator’s perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 128(1), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-­014-­2081-­3

References

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Pontzer, D. (2010). A theoretical test of bullying behavior: Parenting, personality, and the bully/ victim relationship. Journal of Family Violence, 25(3). https://link-­al.com.databases.wtamu. edu/apps/doc/A345457792/HRCA?u=txshracd2629&sid=HRCA&xid=3858ca0f. Accessed 23 Feb 2020. Rai, A., & Agarwal, U. (2018). Workplace bullying and employee silence a moderated mediation model of psychological contract violation and workplace friendship. Personnel Review, 47(1), 226–256. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-­03-­2017-­0071 Robert, F. (2018). Impact of workplace bullying on job performance and job stress. Journal of Management Information, 5(3), 12–15. https://doi.org/10.31580/jmi.v5i3.123 Rodríguez-Muñoz, A., Ruiz-Zorrilla, P., Sanz-Vergel, A. I., & Bakker, A. B. (2020). Short-term trajectories of workplace bullying and its impact on strain: A latent class growth modeling approach. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 25(5), 345–356. https://doi. org/10.1037/ocp0000232 Rodríguez-Muñoz, A., León-Pérez, J., & Ruiz-Zorrilla, P. (2022). Workplace bullying, emotional exhaustion, and partner social undermining: A weekly diary study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(5–6), NP3650–NP3666. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520933031 Shorey, S., & Wong, P. Z. E. (2021). A qualitative systematic review on nurses’ experiences of workplace bullying and implications for nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(11), 4306–4320. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14912 Stewart, A. E., & Stewart, E. A. (2006). The preference to excel and its relationship to selected personality variables. Journal of Individual Psychology, 62(3), 270284. Wolke, D., & Lereya, S. (2015). Long-term effects of bullying. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 100(9), 879–885. Workplace Bullying Institute. (2010). Results of the 2010 WBI US workplace bullying survey. https://www.workplacebullying.org/wbiresearch/2010-­wbi-­national-­survey/ Workplace Bullying Institute. (2018). The definition of bullying. https://www.workplacebullying. org/individuals/problem/definition/

Chapter 3

Discussion of Current Policies and Procedures to Address Workplace Bullying

Workplace bullying has likely always been a part of the work environment. However, workplace bullying began to gain attention in secondary fashion to workplace sexual harassment. The term sexual harassment was raised to consciousness by Dr. Lin Farley as part of the 1975 Cornell University program on women in the workplace (Blakemore, 2018). With improved understanding of sexual harassment, workplace bullying awareness began to grow. Swedish psychologist Heinz Leymann was among the first to conceptualize the idea of workplace bullying in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, British journalist Andrea Adams coined the term “workplace bullying” (Tarallo, 2017). By the mid-1990s, workplace bullying is increasingly researched, reviewed, and discussed. Momentum in studying workplace bullying has continued through the decades and certainly gained attention due to increased understanding of the importance of employee well-being and also due to increased awareness of the organizational cost associated with workplace bullying. Increasingly, human resources and organizational behaviorists are introducing organizational policies, procedures, and training to proactively minimize workplace bullying and reduce costs associated with negative events. The following will provide an overview of some current policies and procedures in the workplace designed to minimize or eliminate workplace bullying.

 nited States Department of Labor-Occupational Safety U and Health Administration One of the most important resources organizational leaders and human resources experts must be aware of is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the United States Department of Labor. OSHA seeks to create

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_3

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positive and healthy work environments and the organization defines workplace violence as: …any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the work site. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assault and even homicide. It can affect and involve employees, clients, customers and visitors. Acts of violence and other injuries is currently the third-leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in the United States. (para. 1)

OSHA has developed guidance to support organizations in maintaining safe work environments. With strategies and tools for preventing or minimizing workplace violence in specific industries like healthcare, social services, taxi drivers, late night retail establishments, restaurants, etc. In addition to the guidance, OSHA emphasizes the importance of prevention programs and training at minimizing workplace bullying. Notably, the OSHA standards for workplace violence have a General Duty Clause: Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 states that employers are required to provide their employees with a place of employment that is “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” Organizations should seek to be in alignment with OSHA guidelines, and it is critical that organizational leaders maintain a safe environment where bullying is minimized or eliminated, and all bullying should be recognized as having the potential to be violent both emotionally and physically.

Federal Laws OSHA does create a set of policies and guidelines that require employers to maintain a safe working environment. However, we do not have numerous federal laws that directly address workplace bullying. But there are several acts designed to create a safe work environment and that apply to workplace bullying when bullying behaviors overlap with workplace discrimination based on race, national origin, color, sex, gender identity, age, disability, or religion. Types of laws protecting employees against workplace discrimination and harassment include the following: • Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 –– Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in several areas including housing, employment, and education. • Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 –– Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. • Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) –– The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.

The Workplace Bullying Institute

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• Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity of Sexual Orientation. –– All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Professional Organizations and Government Agencies Interestingly, US law does not require employers to have a policy and training that addresses workplace bullying (Binney, 2012); however, many experts believe workplace bullying policies and training are good business practices and help support and promote a culture of civility. As a starting point, it is important to note that workplace bullying cases are not covered under federal antidiscrimination law unless the target is a member of a protected class (Binney, 2012). With this in mind, many organizations create and develop their own organizational policies based on professional organizations’ and government agency’s research and recommendations. Some organizational and agency policy examples include the following: • SHRM’s workplace bullying policy which includes a definition of bullying, the purpose of the policy, and examples of bullying behaviors. • The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) anti-bullying policy is contained in the Violence in the Workplace” chapter of the 278-page OSHA Field Health and Safety Manual (OSHA, 2023).

The Workplace Bullying Institute In addition to policies and procedures, there are organizations that have been developed to protect victims of workplace bullying like The Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI). WBI is a research, training, support, and advocacy group that created the inaugural national grassroots movement to enact the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill (HWB) in US states. The HWB is the boldest proposed change to US employment law in 50 years. WBI encourages states to pass. The Health Workplace Bill, which “plugs the gaps in current state and federal civil rights protections,” and as of September 2012, 21 states had introduced but not enacted The Healthy Workplace Bill.

Agency Responsibilities in Addressing Workplace Bullying There are policies, procedures, and external organizations working to minimize and eliminate workplace bullying. But organizations themselves must consider how the organization will address workplace bullying. Literature and government policies

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communicate that agencies are responsible for maintaining systems that support a healthy work environment. As such, agencies must maintain a safe, secure, and easy process for employees to report workplace bullying. Organizations must also hold supervisors and managers accountable for communicating and upholding applicable standards of behavior and conduct with their employees. Workplace bullying reporting procedures should be practical, confidential, and accessible to all employees.

 anagers and Supervisors Have a Responsibility M in Maintaining a Safe Work Environment Organizations must have policies and procedures to address workplace bullying, but the manager or organizational leader may be the most important individual within each group to help create a positive work environment that does not tolerate incivilities between team members. Managers must set the tone for those they supervise. To ensure a healthy workplace culture, managers and supervisors should model appropriate behavior, inform employees of workplace values, and communicate organizational rules, procedures, and standards of conduct. Managers must promptly take action whenever they see or have reason to believe that bullying is occurring in the workplace, and managers should encourage employees to promptly report instances of workplace bullying.

Literature Literature and academics certainly support the idea that policies and procedures within organizations have the potential to minimize workplace bullying. Rocket et al. (2017) conducted a qualitative multiple case study to determine whether Irish universities have procedures and policies to address workplace bullying, to determine the view of the HR leaders, and to determine the HR leaders’ perspectives of the efficacy of the policies and procedures. The participants for the case study consisted of senior managers contributing one-on-one interviews regarding workplace bullying policies and procedures. The study found that all seven Irish universities had policies and procedures for dealing with workplace bullying introduced between 1999 to 2003. While the primary motivation for developing the policies and procedures was dealing with workplace bullying and legislative compliance, the participants also acknowledged that increased occurrences of workplace bullying required a mechanism for response. All participants felt the policies and procedures created a frame for addressing bullying incidents. Workplace bullying policies are popular for proactively addressing workplace bullying. With this in mind, researchers are examining the characteristics of an organization and how the size of an organization may impact the type of workplace

Conclusions

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bullying policies and procedures implemented. Spence Laschinge et  al. (2018) acknowledges that workplace bullying adversely impacts workers, leaders, and organizations. The researcher examined if small businesses have policies and procedures for addressing workplace bullying and how these businesses affect workplace bullying. Through a qualitative research study, the researcher interviewed 10 individuals working in small businesses and found that the small businesses did have policies and procedures, and the businesses had to examine case-by-case incidents looking at employee actions, supervisor actions, policies and procedures, reprimands, and consequences. The researcher believes that the size of the business may influence the policies and procedures selected. So, the literature certainly supports organizational anti-workplace bullying policies and indicates that these policies should be designed based on the unique organizations’ needs. From this perspective, Kwan et al. (2016) sought to understand workplace bullying policies, practices, and procedures that influence a psychosocially safe climate. Through the lens of the Workplace Bullying Theory and the Psychosocial Safety Climate model, the researcher created a qualitative survey and questionnaire speaking to 10 administrators who had experienced or observed workplace bullying. From the data, there were several major discoveries; there is a perceived relationship between written policy and leaderships’ practices and procedures, a perceived relationship between organizational wide stress prevention efforts and human resources professionals, and a need for employees to be heard by leadership.

Conclusions Workplace bullying remains a phenomenon that many employees will experience during their career. Government leaders, organizational leaders, and researchers are seeking solutions to minimize or end workplace violence. Certainly, organizational policies and procedures are one step organizations can take to address workplace bullying. These policies and procedures certainly signal to employees that workplace bullying will not be tolerated. However, policymakers, organizational leaders, and research are finding that policies and procedures alone will not stop workplace bullying. The policies and procedures must be in place, but employees must also choose to build a culture of organizational safety.

References Binney, E. (2012). Experts recommend workplace bullying policies. Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved from: https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-­topics/employee-­ relations/Pages/Experts-­R ecommend-­Workplace-­B ullying-­P olicies.aspx#:~:text=A%20 workplace%20bullying%20policy%2C%20which%20might%20be%20added,policies%20 include%20a%20list%20of%20desired%20employee%20behaviors

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Blakemore, E. (2018). Unit 1975, ‘Sexual Harassment’ was the menace with no name. History. Retrieved from: https://www.history.com/news/ until-­1975-­sexual-­harassment-­was-­the-­menace-­with-­no-­name Kwan, S., Tuckey, M. R., & Dollard, M. F. (2016). The role of the psychosocial safety climate in coping with workplace bullying: A grounded theory and sequential tree analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 25(1), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.108 0/1359432X.2014.982102 OSHA. (2023). Workplace violence. United States Department of Labor OSHA. Retrieved from: https://www.osha.gov/workplace-­violence Rocket, P., Fan, S., Dwyer, R., & Foy, T. (2017). A human resource management perspective of workplace bullying. Journal of Aggression, 9(2), 116–127. Spence Laschinge, H., Wong, C., Read, E., Cummings, G., Leiter, M., Regan, S., Rheaume-­ Bruning, A., Ritchie, J., Burkoski, V., Grinson, D., Gurnhan, M., Huckstep, S., Jeffs, L., Macdonald-Rencz, S., Ruffolo, M., Shamian, J., Wolff, A., Young-Ritchie, C., & Wood, K. (2018). Predictors of new graduate nurses’ health over the first 4 years of practice. Nursing Open, 6(2), 245–259. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.231 Tarallo, M. (2017). A brief history of bullying. Security Management. Retrieved ­from:https://www. asisonline.org/security-­management-­magazine/articles/2017/05/a-­brief-­history-­of-­bullying/

Chapter 4

Overview of Needs-Based Theories as Solution for Minimizing Workplace Bullying

Bullying includes repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior that can cause serious lasting damage. While bullying is often described as a childhood experience, bullying is quite prevalent in adulthood. Not only is bullying occurring among adults, but bullying may also persist longer for adults as adults often do not know exactly what to do about incivilities. Consider many adults feel uncertain about what behaviors constitute bullying between adults with free will. Further, even if an adult experiences hostility, to whom should these incivilities be reported? Without answers to these questions, adults often suffer in silence. Long-term silent suffering is not an effective solution as bullying can have significant and lasting consequences not only for the victim but also for the perpetrator. Gary Zukav says, “The next time you feel unworthy, inadequate, or inferior, remember that these experiences have nothing to do with humbleness, any more than lowering yourself to connect with another individual has to do with humbleness. There are no lower or higher individuals in the perception of a humble person. There are only souls. There is only love,” (Newman, 2013 para. 5). Mr. Zukav is an author and public speaker recognized for his efforts to help people find meaning, purpose, joy, and love in their life. With this quote, Zukav is describing one’s internal struggle to be superior to others, and he is cautioning that this struggle to perceive yourself as higher or lower than another is an indication of perceptions of inferiority, and a more productive emotion is love. Could Mr. Zukav’s ideas help us not only identify the root cause of bullying, but could this quote identify a solution? The following book will offer a critical review of literature examining workplace bullying, theories that offer insight into the development of workplace bullying and workplace victim behaviors, research that explores causes of bullying and victim behaviors, literature discussing long-term consequences of bullying and victimization, and solutions that may help assess, measure, or prevent bullying/victim behaviors in the future.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_4

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To gain insight into both bullying and victimization, the topics will first be examined from a sociopsychological perspective. The Sociopsychological Theory is the study of the individual with a specific focus on interpersonal influences, examining the individual, their characteristics, and what causes them to act in independent ways. With sociopsychology, the individual and society are viewed as interlinked, meaning the individual strives to meet the needs of the society and the society helps the individual attain their goals. Through the ongoing interactions between the individual and the society, the personality of the individual is developed. In other words, from a sociopsychological perspective, the social variables and not the biological instincts are important in terms of shaping an individual’s personality, and the motivation within the individual is conscious; the individual knows their needs and wants and selects a behavior to support their needs and wants. The sociopsychological theory is based, in part, on the contributions of Alfred Adler, Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, Harry Stack-Sullivan, and Karen Horney. As such, a relevant theory from each significant theorist will be introduced and examined as it relates to bullying or victim behaviors.

Causes of Bullying Behaviors The sociopsychological theory examines internal experiences, perceptions, and feelings and how these experiences, perceptions, and feelings may drive someone to address a need through either engaging in bullying of victim behaviors. To further explore this topic, some contemporary research will be examined to help identify external factors that may shape someone into learned behaviors of engaging in either bullying of victim behaviors. Many researchers exploring bullying behaviors examine family environments. Pontzer (2010) conducted a theoretical test of bullying behavior looking at parenting, personality, and bully/victim relationship. Pontzer measured the extent to which 527 university students were involved in bullying in the past few months and the type of parenting the participants experienced in their home, specifically, measuring physical, verbal, indirect-relational, property, coercive, racial, and sexual bullying. Of the participants, 23.7% were bullies, 19.9% were victims, 9.6% were both the bully and victim, and about 45% were not involved in bullying. For the sample, the type of parenting the students experienced was measured through the reintegrative shaming theory, and based on the measurements, the current classification as a bully was positively associated with being bullied during childhood, impulsiveness, having a tendency to displace shame, being male, being exposed to parental stigmatization, and being younger. In other words, bullying behaviors were related to parenting styles and parenting influence. Several researchers are examining adult bullying in the workplace. Johnson (2015) analyzes the discourses of workplace bullying among nursing unit managers. Based on interviews with 15-unit managers and organizational documents, it was determined that bullying is occurring in the workplace and that the causes are

Sociopsychological Causes of Victimhood

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complex. The researchers recognize workplace bullying as caused by many environmental factors such as leadership styles, oppressive working conditions, and low job control (Zapf & Gross, 2001; Spence Laschinger et al., 2018; Johnson, 2015). Salin (2003) summarizes the literature explaining workplace bullying with a focus on organizational incidents. The author creates a model to offer explanations for the causes of bullying. The model has categories of enabling structures or necessary antecedents (perceived power imbalances, low perceived costs, and dissatisfaction and frustration), motivating structures or incentives (internal competition, reward systems, and expected benefits), and precipitating processes or triggering circumstances (downsizing and restricting, organizational changes, changes in the composition of the work group). Based on a review of literature, the author concludes that adult bullying is often caused by challenging interactions between structures and processes from all three categories. With increased awareness, there are many researchers with many conclusions about bullying. There are conclusions that perceive the environment, the individual, or external stressors as driving bullying behaviors. To share additional research succinctly, a table identifying researcher(s), the researcher’s conclusions regarding causes for bullying, and identification of the need that may be lacking that drives the bully’s behavior is presented (Appendix: Table 4.1).

Sociopsychological Causes of Victimhood Researchers often study the reasons why one may bully, but there is less research examining what causes someone to participate long term as a victim. Specifically, what ideas, experiences, actions, environments, or lacking needs cause someone to participate as a victim in a bullying relationship? Kennedy (2018) studied bully-victims and found that there are some common characteristics of people that are at a high risk for victimhood. Her study involved children ages 5–17 and included both bullying perpetrators and victims. Based on a sample of 165, Kennedy found four bullying victim types: high-bully victims, aggression predominantly bully-victims, victimization predominant bully-victims, and moderate bully-victims. Analyses revealed that there are some common characteristics among bully-victims, particularly that youth involved in high amounts of both perpetration and victimization are considerably more at risk of traumatic symptoms and non-victimization adversity than youth involved in fewer bullying behaviors. Trauma symptoms certainly can influence one’s ability to manage a bullying situation. Another characteristic of many bully-victims is that they remain silent, they do not report the bullying behaviors. Remaining silent can allow the bullying to continue. According to a 2005 review of research by the University of Toronto social workers, there are seven reasons why victims of bullying may remain silent (Pappas, 2010):

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1. The cloak of secrecy—bullying often happens out of an authority’s sight. 2. Power—the bully possesses more perceived or real power than the target. 3. Self-blame—victims feel shame and blame themselves for their situation. 4. Retaliation—if the victim reports the event, the bully will attack more. 5. Vulnerability—victims of bullying are often less accepted by peers and more vulnerable. 6. Fear of losing a friendship—sometimes the relationship between bullies and victims is complex, and the victim may view the bully as a friend and want to maintain the friendship. 7. Fear that authority will not do anything—if the victim believes no one will help, why report? While trauma and fear may cause a person to remain a victim in a bullying situation, can parenting style also influence some victim behaviors? McNamara and McNamara (1997) theorize there is an “intergenerational link,” finding it to be common for the parent of victimized children to have been victimized themselves. The researchers believe that the parent victims may overreact to behaviors they perceive as bullying, contributing to an intergenerational cycle of overprotection. Thus, inhibiting the development of conflict resolution skills, which places the child at a heightened risk of becoming the next generation of victims. Parents who make it so that their child does not experience conflict miss the opportunity to teach adequate conflict resolution skills, and children who lack conflict resolution skills are vulnerable to victimization. There are numerous studies discussing the causes of victim behaviors. To efficiently summarize additional research, a table displaying the researcher(s) names, their conclusions regarding the causes of victim behaviors, and the lacking need that may drive the victim to continue the described behavior is presented (Appendix: Table 4.2).

Consequences Experienced by Adult Perpetrators Bullying is a significant concern and can have lasting effects on the perpetrator, the target, and those that observe hostile behaviors. Specifically, the perpetrator may experience many lasting consequences. Bullies are several times more likely than their non-bullying peers to commit antisocial acts, including vandalism, fighting, theft, drunkenness, and truancy and to have been involved with the criminal justice system by young adulthood (Lynch, 2004). Further, Sullivan (2008) found adolescents who are involved in bullying are more likely than bystanders to report feelings of low self-worth, sadness, and chronic awareness of an unsafe environment. So, the targets are not the only ones with long-term consequences; the bullies are experiencing negative outcomes such as increased involvement with the criminal justice system and low self-esteem due to their bullying actions. What other consequences might a bully experience?

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Sigurdson et al. (2015) studied the relationship between bullying involvement in adolescence and mental health problems in adulthood. The researcher surveyed 2464 adolescent participants with a mean age of 13.7 and surveyed the same adolescents again, 12 years later, at a mean age of 27.2. Based on the surveys, it was found that all groups involved in bullying in young adolescents had adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood. Those being aggressive to others showed high levels of depressive symptoms and increased risk of having received help for mental health problems. Both the bully and the victims showed an increased risk of psychiatric hospitalization due to mental health issues. The overall conclusion was that involvement in bullying in adolescence is associated with later mental health problems, possibly hindering development into independent adulthood. Bondu et al. (2016) investigated the long-term relations between experiences of aggression at school and the development of justice sensitivity as a personality disposition in adolescents. Specifically, assessing justice sensitivity (from the victim, observer, and perpetrator perspective), bullying, and victimization among 565 German 12–18-year-olds in a one-year longitudinal study with two measurement points. Latent path analyses revealed gender differences in the long-term effects of bullying and victimization on observer sensitivity and victim sensitivity. Experiences of victimization at T1 predicted an increase in victim sensitivity among girls and a decrease in victim sensitivity among boys. Bullying behavior at T1 predicted an increase in victim sensitivity among boys and a decrease in observer sensitivity among girls. Research indicates that experiences of bullying and victimization may influence one’s perspectives of justice sensitivity and may have gender-specific influences on the development of moral personality dispositions. Finally, Dr. Glew of the University of Washington, Seattle, and her associates surveyed 5391 children from a single urban public school district in grades 7, 9, and 11. The students rated how often they bullied and were victims of bullying; their feelings of safety at school; their feelings of self-worth and daily sadness; and their judgments on the high-risk behaviors of bringing a gun to school, fighting, cheating, stealing, smoking, and drinking alcohol. The researchers also obtained grade point averages for all surveyed students. Overall, 74% of the students reported being neither a bully nor a victim—these “bystanders” were used as the control group. About 15% of students reported being bullied, 7% said they bullied others, and 4% were both bullies and victims. Bullies were almost twice as likely to report feeling unsafe at school and sad on most days, compared with bystanders. Further, the bullies were three times as likely to endorse the idea of beating up someone who starts a fight and twice as likely to say it is “OK” to pick a fight or to cheat at school. Based on a review of these articles, bullies experience consequences of potential long-term involvement with the criminal justice system, low self-esteem, mental health issues, difficulty developing into an independent adult, damaged perspectives of justice, feelings that their environments are unsafe, and a perpetual cycle of believing that they have the right to engage in bullying behaviors. From the articles, it appears that bullies tend to hold a negative view of themselves, further indicating that they may lack needs for belonging and self-esteem.

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Consequences Experienced by Adult Victims While there is more research on what causes bullying rather than what causes victimhood, there is more research on the victim consequences than the bullying consequences. Much of the literature examining consequences for bullying victims is in the adolescent setting, likely because there is some attempt to manage or overcome bullying in the school setting. While bullying in adulthood may be overlooked as adults are unsure of how to discipline other adults acting with free will. However, it is important to understand the victim’s experience at all ages because the consequences are significant. Not only are victims of bullying more likely to experience psychiatric problems as adults (Lereya et al., 2015), being a victim of bullying has been associated with numerous psychosocial dysfunctions. • Low self-esteem (Bjorkqvist et al., 1982; Boulton & Smith, 1994; Callaghan & Joseph, 1995; Olweus, 1993; Rigby & Slee, 1991) • Depression (Ahmed & Braithwaite, 2005; Bjorkqvist et  al., 1982; Boulton & Underwood, 1992; Callaghan & Joseph, 1995; Olweus, 1993; Rigby & Slee, 1991; Slee, 1993) • Loneliness (Boulton & Smith, 1994; Ireland, 2000) • Social incompetence and conduct problems (Callaghan & Joseph, 1995) • Suicide proneness (Carney, 2000; Morrison, 2002; Rigby & Slee, 1991) • Stress, anxiety, depression, and illness (Morrison, 2002) Lynch (2004) studied bullying and has identified that there are short- and long-­ term consequences for the victims of bullying. It is known that students who are chronically bullied experience more psychological and physical problems than their peers who are not harassed, and their experience can become a cycle of playing the victim. Lynch describes the results from a November 1999 survey published by Kidscape. In the survey, adults describe if they were bullied at school in their youth and how it affected them later in life. The survey revealed that being badly bullied as a child had a dramatic, negative, effect throughout the victim’s life. With over 1000 participants, ages 18–81, results show that bullying in youth not only damages one’s adult self-esteem, but bullying in youth also negatively impacts the adult’s ability to make friends and succeed in education, work, and social relationships. In fact, 46% of the participants report contemplated suicide and the majority report feeling angry and bitter now about the bullying they suffered as children. The participants reflect that they received no help at the time to stop the bullying and recognize that if they had reported the bullying to an authority, the situation would have intensified. The adult mental health consequences of childhood bullying are well documented (Lereya et al., 2015). Researchers Lereya et al. (2015) conducted a study to determine if the adverse mental health effects are due to exposure to maltreatment and bullying or if bullying alone has a unique effect. Based on a longitudinal study of parents and children in the UK and the Great Smokey Mountains, maltreatment was assessed as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse between ages 8 weeks and 8

Current Assessments Used to Understand Bullying Characteristics

23

years as reported in a questionnaire by the mother. Bullying was assessed with child reports at 8, 10, and 13 years of age using the Bullying and Friendship Interview Schedule. Both maltreatment and bullying were repeatedly assessed with annual parent-and-child interviews between the ages of 9 and 16. With 5446 participants, children who were only maltreated were at increased risk for depression in young adulthood and mental health problems. Those children who were only bullied by their peers were more likely than children who were maltreated only to have mental health problems and those who were both maltreated and bullied were at an increased risk for overall mental health problems, anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Being bullied had significant long-term mental health consequences. With more awareness of adult bullying, some research is growing regarding bullying in the workplace, and Sansone and Sansone (2012) found that victims of bullying in the workplace experience emotional and psychological issues, medical consequences, and socioeconomic consequences. Specifically, workplace bullying victims experience emotional/psychological consequences of increased stress and mental distress, and these consequences can persist for many years post bullying. Workplace bullying victims experience greater general health complaints, neck pain, musculoskeletal complaints, acute pain, fibromyalgia, and cardiovascular disease. Workplace bullying victims experience increased absenteeism due to sick days, greater likelihood of long-term absence due to sick leave, and greater rates of unemployment through either job loss or leaving voluntarily. Victims of bullying can experience significant short- and long-term consequences including severe stress, mental health issues, physical health issues, low self-esteem, fear, and even a loss of resources. It is important to note that simply removing a victim from a bullying situation does not necessarily end the trauma for the victim. Victims may continue to experience consequences from bullying events for years or even for the rest of their life. Clearly, bullying can be terribly damaging to a victim. Is someone that is not able to end a bullying situation for themselves, one that is perpetually a victim, someone that is lacking in self-esteem?

 urrent Assessments Used to Understand C Bullying Characteristics Based on sociopsychological theory and a literature review, bullies and victims are likely both lacking some basic needs and skills. These lacking needs may include self-esteem or possibly problem-solving skills. Bullying consequences do not minimize with age; in fact, one could argue, the consequences for bullying behaviors intensify for adults with the loss of jobs, the loss of income, potential lawsuits, and increased potential for serious violence. Recognizing the intensified outcomes of bullying has caused managers and organizational leaders to try to determine how to minimize or manage bullying in the workplace. Could assessments for identifying bullying behaviors be applied in the schools, the hiring process, or in evaluations to

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4  Overview of Needs-Based Theories as Solution for Minimizing Workplace Bullying

identify individuals who are at risk for bullying or victimization? There are several bullying assessments, and a few will be described. The Workplace Bullying Assessment Checklist is offered in the Stop Bullying Tool Kit and was created by PACERS, Passionate About Creating Environments of Respect and Civilities (PACERS, 2015). PACERS was founded by seven registered nurses and maintains the focus on creating and sustaining a healthy work environment. The checklist is a five-page rubric allowing for the measurement of bullying behavior within an organization, specifically, examining risk factors, leadership styles in the company, work systems, workplace relationships, workforce characteristics, signs of bullying, and closing with the development of an action plan. The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) and the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (R-OBVQ) consists of 40 questions that measure the bully/victim problem such as exposure to various physical, verbal, racial, or sexual forms of bullying/harassment. It also examines various characteristics like where the bullying occurs, pro-bullying and pro-victim attitudes, and the extent to which the social environment is informed about and reacts to the bullying. The questionnaire is generally intended for students, and it has been reviewed by many researchers. Kyriakides et al. (2006) conducted a study to examine the conceptual design, construct validity, and reliability and to provide further evidence on the prevalence of different forms of bullying behaviors. The researchers found the OBVQ is a psychometrically sound instrument that measures two separate aspects of bullying and can be used for international use. The Bullying Prevention Program Assessment Tool created by Gladden et  al. (2014) is designed for use in schools to document the status of their school-wide bullying prevention program. The instrument is 10-page long and helps quantify the effectiveness of the implemented bullying prevention program. Creating a bullying prevention program can support awareness and communication about the bullying problem, and ongoing measurement of a bully/prevention program effectiveness is needed to maintain a quality program. The tool is free and available to download for use. Finally, the Social Problem-Solving Inventory (SPSI) and the Revised (SPSI-R) assess an individual’s strengths and weaknesses in their problem-solving abilities so that deficits can be addressed, and progress monitored. The instrument can be used in various environments with people wishing to explore and develop their social problem-solving abilities. Problem-solving ability is significant for all areas of life, including interpersonal and work-related relationships. A lack of problem-solving skills may cause someone to rely on either bullying or victim behaviors and measuring problem-solving skills can help identify someone at risk for both. The inventory costs about $100 for 25 copies.

Appendix (Tables 4.1 and 4.2)

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Appendix (Tables 4.1 and 4.2) Table 4.1  Causes of bullying behaviors

Researcher Arora and Thompson (1987), Bjorkqvist et al. (1982), Ireland (1999, 2000, 2001), Ireland and Archer (1996), and Randall (1997) Lagerspetz et al. (1982), Olweus (1993, 2001) Ahmed (2001), Boulton and Underwood (1992), Dodge and Fame (1982), Miller and Eisenberg (1988), Randall (1997), Slee (1993) Boulton and Underwood (1992), Dodge and Fame (1982), Miller and Eisenberg (1988), Randall (1997), Slee (1993) Ahmed (2001), Berkowitz (1993) Sei-hill and Telleen (2017), Berkowitz (1993), Dodge and Fame (1982), Ireland (2000), Pattison (2000), Pettit and Bates (1989), Randall (1997), Strassberg (1994), Trickett and Kuczynski (1986) Ahmed (2001), Baumrind (1991), Braithwaite (1989); Fletcher et al. (1995); Bowman (2001), Janssens and Dekovic (1997), Rigby (1994), Steinberg et al. (1991), Zahn-Waxler et al. (1990) Ahmed (2001), Braithwaite (1989), Grusec and Goodnow (1994), Grusec and Kuczynski (1980), Hirschi (1969), Rosenberg (1979), Trickett and Kuczynski (1986) Pollastri et al. (2010) Van Oost (2002)

Cause of bullying behaviors Antisocial traits associated with bullying include the desire to dominate others Positive attitude toward violence Inability to empathize

A tendency to ascribe hostile meanings to ambiguous situations Impulsiveness Parenting that is harsh, neglectful, absent, and rejecting Bully is lacking in positive emotional affection

Needs driving the bully Desire for power Desire for power Desire for power Desire for power Desire for power Desire for power

Desire for power

Parents that do not teach and Desire for demonstrate appropriate power behavior A way to conceal their own issues with self-esteem Repeating modeled behavior by the parents

Desire for power Desire for power

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4  Overview of Needs-Based Theories as Solution for Minimizing Workplace Bullying

Table 4.2  Causes of victim behavior

Researcher Coyne et al. (2000) Milam et al. (2009)

Characteristic driving the victim Need for affiliation

Cause of victimizing behaviors Workplace victims consistently had traits that include low extraversion, high neuroticism, and high conscientiousness Alterman et al. (2013), Found that specific job areas posed a greater risk of Need for Notelaers et al. (2010), bullying than others affiliation Keuskamp et al. (2012) Campanini et al. Men were more likely to be bullied around their Need for (2006) work performance, whereas women were more affiliation likely to be bullied around their personal values Law et al. (2011) Psychosocial safety climate, defined as shared Need for perceptions of the work structure that protect affiliation workers’ psychological health and safety, moderated relationships with workplace bullying Punzi et al. (2011) Found that company changes and organizational Need for conflicts were the main antecedents of bullying in affiliation the workplace

References Ahmed, E. (2001). Shame management: regulating bullying. In E. Ahmed, N. Harris, J.B. Braithwaite, & V.A. Braithwaite (Eds.), Shame Management through Reintegration. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 211–314. Ahmed, E., & Braithwaite, J. (2005). Forgiveness, shaming, shame and bullying. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 38(3), 298–323. Alterman, T., Luckhaupt, S. E., Dahlhamer, J. M., Ward, B. W., & Calvert, G. M. (2013). Job insecurity, work-family imbalance, and hostile work environment: Prevalence data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 56(6), 660–669. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22123 Arora, C. M. J., & Thompson, D. A. (1987). Defining bullying for a secondary school. Educational and Child Psychology, 4(3–4), 110–120. Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11(1), 56–95. Berkowitz, L. (1993). Aggression: Its causes, consequences, and control. Mcgraw-Hill. Bjorkqvist, K., Ekman, K., & Lagerspetz, K. (1982). Bullies and victims: Their ego picture, ideal ego picture, and normative ego picture. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 23, 307–313. Bondü, R., Rothmund, T., & Gollwitzer, M. (2016). Mutual long-term effects of school bullying, victimization, and justice sensitivity in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 48, 62–72. Boulton, M. J. & Underwood, K. (1992). Bully/victim problems among middle school children. British. Journal of Educational Psychology, 62(1), 73–87. Boulton, M. J., & Smith, P. (1994). Bully/victim problems in middle-school children: Stability, self-­ perceived competence, peer perceptions and peer acceptance. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 315–329. Bowman, D. (2001). Survey of students documents the extent of bullying. Education Week, 20(33), 11. Braithwaite, J. (1989). Crime, shame and reintegration. Cambridge University Press. Callaghan, S., & Joseph, S. (1995). Self-concept and peer victimization among school children. Psychological Bulletin, 18(1), 161–163.

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Campanini, P., Punzi, S., Carissimi, E., & Gilioli, R. (2006). Gender differences in workplace bullying. Medicina del lavoro, 97(5), 699–706. Carney, J. (2000). Bullied to death: Perceptions of peer abuse and suicidal behavior during adolescence. School Psychology International, 21, 213–223. Coyne, I., Seigne, E., & Randall, P. J. (2000). Predicting workplace victim status from personality. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 9, 335–349. https://doi. org/10.1080/135943200417957 Dodge, K., & Fame, C. (1982). Social cognitive biases and deficits in aggressive boys. Child Development, 53, 620–635. Fletcher, A. C., Darling, N. E., Steinberg, L., & Dornbusch, S. M. (1995). The company they keep: Relation of adolescent’s adjustment and behavior to their friends’ perceptions of authoritative parenting in the social network. Developmental Psychology, 31(2), 300–310. Gladden, R.  M., Vivolo-Kantor, A.  M., Hamburger, M.  E., & Lumpkin, C.  D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youths: Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements, Version 1.0. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Education. Grusec, J.  E., & Goodnow, J.  J. (1994). Impact of parental discipline methods on the child's internalization of values: A reconceptualization of current points of view. Developmental Psychology, 30(1), 4–19. Grusec, J. E., & Kuczynski, L. (1980). Direction of effect in socialization: a comparison of the parent’s versus the child’s behavior as determinants of disciplinary techniques. Developmental Psychology, 16(1), 1–9. Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. University of California Press. Ireland, J. L. (1999). ‘Bullying behaviours among male and female prisoners: A study of adult and young offenders’, Aggressive Behavior, Vol. 25, 161–178. Ireland, J. L. (2000). ‘Bullying among prisoners: A review of research’. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 5(2), 201–215. Ireland, J., & Archer, J. (1996). Descriptive analysis of bullying in male and female adult prisoners. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 6, 35–47. Janssens, J., & Dekovic, M. (1997). Child rearing, prosocial moral reasoning, and prosocial behaviour. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 20(3), 509–527. Johnson, S.  L. (2015). Workplace bullying prevention: A critical discourse analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 71(10), 2384–2392. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12694 Kennedy, R. (2018). Bully-victims: An analysis of subtypes and risk characteristics. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2018, 886260517741213. Keuskamp, D., Ziersch, A. M., Baum, F. E., & LaMontagne, A. D. (2012). Workplace bullying a risk for permanent employees. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 36(2), 116–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753-­6405.2011.00780.x Kyriakides, L., Kaloyirou, C., & Lindsay, G. (2006). An analysis of the revised Olweus Bully/ Victim Questionnaire using the Rasch measuring model. The British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(4), 781–801. Lagerspetz, K. M., Björkqvist, K., Berts, M., & King, E. (1982). Group aggression among school children in three schools. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 23(1), 45–52. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1467-9450.1982.tb00412.x. Law, R., Dollard, M. F., Tuckey, M. R., & Dormann, C. (2011). Psychosocial safety climate as a lead indicator of workplace bullying and harassment, job resources, psychological health and employee engagement. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 43(5), 1782–1793. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.aap.2011.04.010 Lereya, T., Copeland, W., Costello, J., & Wolke, D. (2015). Adult mental health consequences of peer bullying and maltreatment in childhood: Two cohorts in two countries. The Lacete. Psychiatry, 2(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-­0366(15)00165-­0 Lynch, E. (2004). Lasting damage: Being bullied at school can result in long-term health and social effects. Nursing Standard, 18(45) Retrieved from: https://link-­gale-­com.databases.wtamu.edu/

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apps/doc/A120190513/HRCA?u=txshracd2629&sid=HRCA&xid=b6227d25. Accessed 3 Mar2020. McNamara, B., & McNamara, F. (1997). Keys to dealing with bullies. Barron’s. Milam, A., Spitzmueller, C., & Penney, L. M. (2009). Investigating individual differences among targets of workplace incivility. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 14(1), 58–69. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012683 Miller, P.  A., & Eisenberg, N. (1988). The relation of empathy to aggressive and externalizing/antisocial behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 324–344. https://doi. org/10.1037/0033-­2909.103.3.324 Morrison, B. (2002). Restorative justice and school violence: building theory and practice: Center for Restorative Justice. Research School of Social Statistics: Australian National University. Newman, L. (2013). On happiness:The surprising secret to living a happier life. Huffpost. Retrieved from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/happiness-­happy-­humble-­humbleness-­ary-­zukav_n_3104172 Notelaers, G., De Witte, H., & Einarsen, S. (2010). A job characteristics approach to explain workplace bullying. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 19(4), 487–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320903007620 Olweus, D. (1993). Victimization by peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes. In K. H. Rubin & J. B. Asendorf (Eds.), Social withdrawal, inhibition and shyness in children (pp. 315–341). Lawrence Erlbaum. Olweus, D. (2001). Peer harassment: A critical analysis and some important questions. In J. Juvonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school (pp. 3–20). New York, NY: Guilford Press. PACERS. (2015). Workplace bullying assessment checklist. Retrieved from: http://stopbullyingtoolkit.org/Workplace-­Bullying-­Assessment Pappas, S. (2010). Why bully victims suffer in silence. Live Science Retrieved from https://www. livescience.com/8994-­bully-­victims-­suffer-­silence.html Pattson, S. (2000). Shame. Cambridge University Press. Pettit, G., & Bates, J.  E. (1989). Family interaction patterns and children’s behavior problems from infancy to 4 years. Developmental Psychology, 25(3), 413–420. https://doi. org/10.1037/0012-­1649.25.3.413 Pollastri, A., Cardemil, E., & O’Donnell, E. (2010). Self-esteem in pure bullies and bully/victims: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(8), 1489–1502. Pontzer, D. (2010). A theoretical test of bullying behavior: Parenting, personality, and the bully/ victim relationship. Journal of Family Violence, 25(3). https://link-­al.com.databases.wtamu. edu/apps/doc/A345457792/HRCA?u=txshracd2629&sid=HRCA&xid=3858ca0f. Accessed 23 Feb. 2020. Punzi, S., Castellini, G., Cassitto, M. G., Leocata, G., & Costa, G. (2011). Demand of diagnosis and treatment for work-related psycho-social discomfort: trend of phenomenon. Giornale italiano di medicina del lavoro ed ergonomia, 33(3 Suppl), 355. Randall, P. (1997). Adult bullying perpetrators and victims. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. Rigby, K., & Slee, P. (1991). Bullying among Australian school children: Reported behavior and attitudes towards victims. The Journal of Social Psychology, 131(5), 615–627. Rigby, K. (1994) ‘Psycho-Social Functioning in Families of Australian Adolescent Schoolchildren Involved in Bully/Victim Problems’. Journal of Family Therapy 16(2): 173–189. Rosenberg, M. (1979). Conceiving the self. Basic Books. Salin, D. (2003). Ways of explaining workplace bullying: A review of enabling, motivating and precipitating structures and processes in the work environment. Human Relations, 56(10), 1213–1232. Sansone, R., & Sonsone, L. (2012). Antidepressant adherence: Are patients taking their medication? Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 9(5–6), 41–46. Sei-Hill, K., & Telleen, M. (2017). Talking about school bullying: News framing of who is responsible for causing and fixing the problem. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(3), 725–746.

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Sigurdson, J., Undheim, A., Wallander, J., Lydersen, S., & Sund, A. (2015). The long-term effects of being bullied or a bully in adolescence on externalizing and Internalizing mental health problems in Adulthood. Child Adolescent Psychiatry Mental Health, 9(42). https://doi.org/10.1186/ s13034-­015-­0075-­2 Slee, P. T. (1993). Bullying: A preliminary investigation of its nature and the effects of social cognition. Early Child Development and Care, 87, 47–57. Spence Laschinge, H., Wong, C., Read, E., Cummings, G., Leiter, M., Regan, S., Rheaume-­ Bruning, A., Ritchie, J., Burkoski, V., Grinson, D., Gurnhan, M., Huckstep, S., Jeffs, L., Macdonald-Rencz, S., Ruffolo, M., Shamian, J., Wolff, A., Young-Ritchie, C., & Wood, K. (2018). Predictors of new graduate nurses’ health over the first 4 years of practice. Nursing Open, 6(2), 245–259. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.231 Steinberg, L., Mounts, N.  S., Lamborn, S.  D., & Dornbusch, S.  M. (1991). Authoritative parenting and adolescent adjustment across varied ecological niches. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1(1), 19–36. Strassberg, Z. (1994). Social information processing in compliance situations by mothers of behavior-problem boys. Child Development. Sullivan, M. G. (2008). Bullies and victims feel worthless, sad, unsafe. Clinical Psychiatry News, 36(4), 30. Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine, https://link-­gale-­com.databases.wtamu.edu/ apps/doc/A178548851/HRCA?u=txshracd2629&sid=HRCA&xid=62a44e07. Accessed 23 Feb. 2020. Trickett, P. K., & Kuczynski, L. (1986). Children's misbehaviors and parental discipline trategies in abusive and nonabusive families. Developmental Psychology, 22(1), 115–123. https://doi. org/10.1037/0012-­1649.22.1.115 Van Oost, G. (2002). Radial electric fields & their importance for confinement. Fusion Science and Technology, 41(2T), 225–233. https://doi.org/10.13182/FST02-­A11963521 Zahn-Waxler, C., Kochanska, G., Krupnick, J., & McKnew, D. (1990). Patterns of guilt in children of depressed and well mothers. Developmental Psychology, 26(1), 51–59. Zapf, D., & Gross, C. (2001). Conflict escalation and coping with workplace bullying: A replication and extension. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10, 497–522.

Chapter 5

Alfred Adler and Adlerian Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying

Alfred Adler said, “We are not determined by our experiences, but are self-­ determined by the meaning we give to them; and when we take particular experiences as the basis for our future life, we are almost certain to be misguided to some degree. Meanings are not determined by situations. We determine ourselves by the meanings we ascribe to situations,” (Stepp, 2011, para. 8). Adler’s ideas in this quote are very interesting. Could it be that bullying or victimhood develops based on how the individual defines their situation? Alfred Adler (1870–1937) was a physician, a psychotherapist, and the founder of individual psychology. His work focused on community life and health, both of which are relevant to the examination of bullying and victimhood, and from these ideas, Adler developed individual psychology and more specifically Adlerian Theory. Adlerian Theory is a comprehensive psychology approach emphasizing the individual need for overcoming feelings of inferiority and gaining a sense of belonging. According to Adler, everyone is unique in their goals, their expressions, and their lifestyle choices. While certainly unique, no individual is completely distinct from the society and culture around them. In other words, while unique in our perceptions, we are still impacted by relationships, emotions, and interactions with others. Within our interactions, Adler believed we are motivated to find superiority and avoid feelings of inferiority. With a pragmatic approach to superiority or inferiority, Adler identified three overarching and important life tasks categorized as occupation/work, society/friendship, and love/sexuality. Individuals seek success in each of these life tasks and their success within these life tasks depends upon their ability to cooperate with others (Fig. 5.1). While the goal is superiority in our interactions with others, interestingly, Adler views that we are all born with an underlying sense of inferiority. We manage our inferior feelings by “dreaming” of becoming people that can master tasks we view as significant. In our quests for superiority, we are seeking to develop our self-­ esteem. During this development quest, everyone is in a state of psychological normality or psychological abnormality, and the state we are in determines how we © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_5

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5  Alfred Adler and Adlerian Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment…

compensate for our feelings of inferiority or seek feelings of superiority. A person that is in a state of psychological normality will develop social interests that are useful like cooperation, courage, and attempting to overcome a difficulty. Through cooperation, courage, and response to challenges, the normal person can contribute to the common welfare of others and achieve in life tasks, and their corresponding feelings will support their self-concept of superiority (Fig. 5.2). An individual in a state of abnormality or neuroticism will fail in their goals and struggle to find self-esteem. With ongoing failure and struggle, their coping mechanism of “dreaming” for advancement begins to fade. The struggle to find self-esteem intensifies and demonstrations of feelings of inferiority can be apparent and include doubt, timidness, indecisiveness, and a lack of ability to empower action in themselves. These demonstrations of inferiority lead someone to seek affirmation from others and grow into an adult that may rely on aggression and manipulation. Seeking affirmation from others for self-esteem is ineffective, causing one to remain fragile. While inferior feelings may be based on objective and measurable comparisons with others, it is the individual, the neurotic self-evaluation of the measures that triggers perceptions of inferiority. In examining Alder’s individual psychology, we can gather some insight into both bullying and victimhood. First, both the bully and the victim may be struggling with feelings of inferiority and unable to attain a state of psychological normality and thus achieve high self-esteem. Further, could either the bully or the victim choose to change their perceptions of either inferiority or superiority? And if this occurred, could the bullying/victim cycle be broken?

Managerial Application As managers, we will work with hundreds if not thousands of employees over our careers. Awareness of Adler’s perspectives on individual psychology may be helpful in supporting some employees. As we work with employees, our goals should include awareness of the employee’s needs and alignment of the employee’s needs with job and organizational goals. Some employees will have individual dreams of success. Reflecting on Adler’s ideas, as managers, we can consider that employees with dreams of individual success may seek success in the categories of occupation/ work, society/friendship, and love/sexuality. Their perceptions of success in these areas will be based in part on their own experiences and in part based on organizational and societal culture. As human resource leaders or managers, we will likely focus on our professional assessments on employee perceptions of occupation/work and society/friendship. There are numerous methods for applying Adler’s Individual Psychological perspective to understand an employee’s needs. Two strategies might be observation and assessment in the evaluation process.

Real-World Scenario

33

As a manager, we can spend time observing our employees. We can observe their processes, their interactions, the workplace experiences, and their workplace attitudes. Specifically, we should be watching for employees who perceive themselves to be experiencing success and watching for employees who are thriving through cooperation, courage, and overcoming challenges. When we observe an employee who perceives themselves to lack success and to be struggling with feelings of inferiority, doubt, timidness, indecisiveness, and empowerment, these are employees we may need to support. These employees are not only struggling with success; their self-perceptions of inferiority may leave them more vulnerable to workplace bullying. In addition to observing employees for their perceptions of success or inferiority, we can create an assessment to be included in performance evaluations. As we conduct an annual or semi-annual performance assessment, we can ask the employee to share their ideas of success in the workplace. For example, we might include the following questions: • • • •

Tell me about your two biggest successes during the last quarter. What skills did you use to help support your success? Tell me about your two biggest challenges during the last quarter. What boundaries kept you from overcoming these challenges?

With these conversations and tracking the employees’ responses over time, managers can examine if an employee perceives themselves to be successful or inferior in their role.

Real-World Scenario You are a departmental manager for a team of four financial advisors, Matt, Briand, Abby, and Sarah. In general, the group is cohesive and the team members “get along.” “Getting along” means that the employees complete their tasks successfully and interact with each other in productive ways as needed. You observe that the financial advisors, Matt, Brian, and Abby eat lunch together most days and that one of the financial advisors, Sarah, always eats alone at their desk. While this is not a concern in and of itself, your training and awareness of workplace bullying causes you to consider if the employee is choosing to eat alone or if the employee is experiencing feelings of isolation. From this observation, you reflect on the individual employee further. This reflection is easy, because, as a manager, you write down weekly notes about each employee on Friday afternoon. For example, you might write that an employee closed a significant sale that week or that an employee was absent three days of the week. You might also write down, the employee stayed late to complete an additional project, or you might write down that you observed two colleagues supporting each other.

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5  Alfred Adler and Adlerian Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment…

When you look at your notes on Sarah, you notice that she has been eating alone for two months and that her sales have significantly dropped. Further, you have one note where Sarah commented that the other advisors do not like her. Could the other employees be leaving Sarah out? Is Sarah choosing to isolate because her sales have dropped? You decide to have a conversation with Sarah in the afternoon. You know that Sarah’s perceptions of her work environment will impact her morale and productivity, and you know that low employee morale and productivity can result in layers of organizational loss. From a managers’ perspective, Sarah’s isolation should be explored. Having studied Adler’s philosophies on individual psychology, you decide to ask Sarah four questions: • • • •

Tell me about your two biggest successes during the last quarter. What skills did you use to help support your success? Tell me about your two biggest challenges during the last quarter. What boundaries kept you from overcoming these challenges?

Before you call Sarah into your office, you answer these four questions regarding Sarah for yourself. You note that while her numbers are down this quarter, in the third quarter, her sales numbers were the highest during the first quarter. You think she was experiencing success through her cooperation with the other advisors. You also make note that while her numbers are down, they are acceptable, and you will have to hear from Sarah about her greatest current challenges; she is not demonstrating workplace challenges that are observable. When you call Sarah in your office, you choose to maintain a positive and cheerful demeanor; you communicate that you are happy to speak with her today and that will be asking each employee to reflect on their strengths and challenges. Out of transparency and to build trust, you explain that reflection has the purpose of generating discussion and supporting development. In the conversation, you start by asking Sarah about her greatest success at work. Sarah mentions having the highest sales during the first quarter, and you agree. You ask Sarah about skills she used to achieve the highest sales and she says teamwork with Matt and Brian. You also agree. When you ask Sarah about the two biggest challenges, she has recently experienced, she says, decreased sales numbers and working with Abby. You are surprised by this response because you have not observed any issues between the team members, nor have you been informed of any issues between the team members. However, even with this information, you remain focused on answering the four key questions first, and you ask, “What boundaries have kept you from overcoming these challenges?” Sarah answers that she is not successful in her sales since Abby arrived because many clients prefer to work with Abby over Sarah. Sarah also says that Abby is contacting Sarah’s clients and asking the clients to work with her. Sarah is exhibiting doubt, timidness, and a lack of feeling empowered. This is important information, and you have two paths to take based on this information. First, you will need to speak with Abby and the team about clients and poaching existing clients from current advisors. This is against company policy. But, you know, that simply addressing the policy and addressing Abby does not help

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Sarah return to a state of psychological normality where she is perceiving her workplace to be based on cooperation, where she sees herself as courageous and she sees herself as having the ability to overcome challenges. With this in mind, you decide and emphasize to Sarah her strengths and her overall long-term success as a financial planner. You also share that you see her as one of the greatest assets in the organization. Next, you share that the poaching policy will be reviewed collectively and that poaching clients will not continue in this group. Finally, you decide to have a one-month financial planning team project. You pair Matt and Sarah and Brian and Abby together. Each team will share their combined sales at the end of the month and their combined successes. This team experience was created to help Sarah with scaffolded experience with Matt returning to her experiences and perspectives on cooperation, courage, and overcoming challenges.

Conclusion Adler recognizes that we are all born with a sense of inferiority, and well-adjusted people manage this sense of inferiority by dreaming about mastering the gaps between their current and desired state. With each step toward their dream, one achieves a growing sense of self-esteem. Those individuals who are abnormally adjusted struggle to develop their self-esteem, their dreams fade, their inferiority grows, and they may become aggressive and manipulative to compensate. As managers, we can help motivate our employees and minimize feelings or workplace bullying in workplace bullying targets by helping the victims and targets grow in their perceptions and work experiences with success.

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Appendix (Figs. 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3) Fig. 5.1 Adler’s description of individual psychology

Occupation/Work

Love/Sexuality

Seeking Success/Superiority

Society/Friendship

Society and Culture

Fig. 5.2 Adler’s description of an individual experiencing psychological normality

Individual in a state of psychological normality. Success

Courage Cooperation

Overcome Challenges

5  Alfred Adler and Adlerian Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment… Fig. 5.3 Adler’s Description of an individual experiencing psychological abnormality

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Individual in a state of psychological abnormality. Doubt Timidness Indecisiveness Lack of Ability to Empower Ones-self

Success

Reference Stepp, G. (2011). A psychology of change. Vision. Retrieved from: https://www.vision.org/ alfred-­adler-­a-­psychology-­of-­change-­441

Chapter 6

Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying

Abraham Maslow said, “When people appear to be something other than good and decent, it is only because they are reacting to stress, pain, or the deprivation of basic human needs such as security, love, and self-esteem” (Maslow, 1968, p. 46). Maslow believes humans have basic needs that must be met for one to self-actualize. Could someone trapped in a bullying/victim cycle be missing basic needs? Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) was an American psychologist, and he is considered the founder of humanistic psychology. Humanistic psychology is a perspective that emphasizes the value of the individual and stresses concepts of free will, self-­ efficacy, and self-actualization. Uniquely, humanistic psychology does not concentrate on dysfunction, but rather it strives to help people fulfill their potential and maximize their well-being. It is from this perspective, the perspective of maximizing well-being, that Maslow developed his hierarchy of needs first presented in his 1943 article, A Theory of Human Motivation. The hierarchy of needs identifies the basic needs of human beings in a significant order of importance with the lowest or base level of physiological/body needs and the highest level as self-actualization (Appendix: Fig. 6.1). According to the theory, people must have their basic needs met before they can begin to seek their higher-­ level needs. Boeree (2006) offers a description of each of the five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: 1. Physiological/bodily needs—biological needs that include oxygen, food, water, and shelter. 2. Safety needs—once physiological needs are met, one can seek safety needs of stability, order, and law. 3. Love/belonging needs—once one has fulfilled their safety needs, the individual can seek to belong, to be part of a group. 4. Self-esteem—once one has fulfilled their sense of belonging, they can begin to fulfill self-esteem, feelings of being valued. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_6

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5. Self-actualization—if all prior needs are met, one can seek self-actualization, recognizing and fulfilling one’s purpose, what they were meant to do in their life. While self-actualization is the goal, not all people will reach self-actualization. In fact, most people will only reach self-actualization for periods of time and not permanently. Self-actualization can be viewed as dynamic and appearing in moments of peak performance. Maslow did identify that there are two possible obstacles to achieving self-­ actualization desacralizing and the Jonah complex (Fig. 6.2). Desacralizing usually occurs within the family when the children mistrust the values and virtues presented in their family life. The parents themselves are often confused about values, and the parents are not able to create clear boundaries about appropriate behavior with definitions of “right” and wrong.” A child that develops with confusing parental values and a lack of boundaries may even begin to despise their parents (Maslow, 1971, p. 49). As a result, the child grows up without respect for elders and the familial culture is called into question. The second identified hurdle to self-actualization in the Jonah complex is the fear of success. With the Jonah complex, the individual avoids exercising their talents and evades their own destiny as their success is as scary as their failure. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is relevant to the discussion of bullying and victim behaviors. Consider that Maslow is highlighting that people have tiers of basic needs such as physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Self-actualization is the goal as self-­actualization supports an individual life of meaning. But not everyone has the chance to self-­ actualize. Many people are trapped seeking the basic needs of life like food, water, and shelter. Others can reach higher levels but again become trapped prior to self-­ actualization due to missing elements in their resources, their communities, or their own cognitive functioning. Being trapped in a life constantly seeking basic needs like safety or a chance to truly belong can result in frustration and sadness. Could it be a lack of needs that causes individuals to engage in both bullying and victim behaviors?

Managerial Application Effective managers will help their employees succeed. This includes helping the employee achieve individual and professional work-related goals. One way that managers can support their employees in achieving work-related goals is to understand and apply Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Recall Maslow believes people have five tiers of needs: basic, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. As managers, it may be more efficient and effective to support our employees’ needs rather than micromanage employee tasks. Further, supporting employee needs rather than micromanaging tasks may help managers minimize workplace bullying among their employees.

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Managers must be engaged with their team members. This can include ongoing emails, zooms, observations, meetings, joint projects, collaborations, tracking of progress, etc. The exact method of engagement will vary based on industry, organization, and employee tasks, but each manager should have an ongoing process of measuring each employee’s productivity and work experiences. A simple strategy for face-to-face or virtual managers is to remain in weekly communication with each employee. The communications should support open dialogs, track project progress, and help the manager understand their employee needs. Notes on these meetings should be kept by the manager, and the manager should make sure that they not only identify employees’ needs but that the manager follows up on resolving any lacking workplace needs. While the manager may not explicitly move through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs during weekly communications with each employee, the manager should be asking several key questions: 1. Is there anything you need from me this week or this month to support your assigned project? 2. Are there any goals or milestones you need added to your current project progress? 3. How was your work experience this week? As the employees offer answers to these questions, needs will be identified. Employees may say that they need another software or another form of technology or that they are having trouble connecting with a team member. This information should be viewed by the manager as the employee describing a need, and in this frame, the manager should support or intervene to fill the need as possible. When employees are lacking basic needs like food, water, or shelter or maybe experiencing a state of emergency, they may have trouble performing their job. These lacking needs may require immediate response. However, higher order needs may be more common, like lacking workplace safety or lacking workplace belonging. But an employee that is lacking in safety or belonging will have difficulty achieving in the organization and these employees may be more susceptible to workplace bullying attacks. In listening to employees describe their workplace needs, there are some key words that managers can listen for as indication of a lacking need on Maslow’s hierarchy.

Lacking in Safety • • • • •

I do not have the necessary safety equipment. Coworker A does not have the necessary safety training. My coworker is yelling at me. My coworker hit me. My coworker is sexual harassing me.

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• The parking lot is not well lit. • The front office doors are unlocked when I arrive early in the morning.

Lacking in Love/Belonging at Work • • • • •

I do not have a coworker to eat with. I do not have any friends at work. I do not fit into our group. I am different from everyone else at Company A. No one likes my work.

Esteem • • • • •

I am not very good at my job. I am the weakest person here. My results are not as good as everyone else’s. I do not think I can complete the project. I usually fail when given a task.

Employees that self-describe lacking safety, belonging, or esteem should be taken seriously, and their concerns should be addressed in a reasonable manner. Awareness of and managing employee needs are one way that managers can continually support and facilitate a positive and collaborate work environment.

Real World Scenario Managers can apply Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to engage with employees and continually monitor their lacking or fulfilled workplace need. Through this process, managers can reduce workplace stress, support a productive work environment, and facilitate ongoing communication. In this way, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can serve as a proactive tool for reducing workplace bullying. However, managers may need to apply Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to a workplace bullying experience that either develops or is already in progress. Here is an example. You are a manager for a local gym. You supervise a staff of 8 team members that rotate through the weight room to member check-in. While you have 8 team members on duty during any given shift, you have a total of 12 employees under your supervision. In addition to ongoing observation of your team and your department, you conduct weekly check-ins with each employee. Your weekly check-ins last

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about 15 min, and because you want to be manager that addresses employee needs, you ask each team members three questions: 1. Is there anything you need from me this week or this month to support your assigned project? 2. Are there any goals or milestones you need added to your current project progress? 3. How was your work experience this week? You track the team member’s responses and attempt to resolve any needs your team members express. In general, the meetings are effective, and your employee communications are productive. However, this week, you are watching your team move through their usual shift and notice that John is avoiding the third part of each shift rotation. Part 1, the team members are at member check-in; Part 2, the team members monitor the weight room; and Part 3, the team members will clean each weight station. The team member then moves to break, and the rotation begins again. You watched John on his first rotation barely clean one weight station. As this was out of character, you decide to ignore the scenario and watch John on the second rotation. Again, on his second rotation, he does not thoroughly clean the weight stations, and he yells at Mike to come and clean the stations while John starts his break. You observe that Mike does come and clean the stations and Mike seems familiar with this scenario. When Mike finishes, ask Mike to visit with you during the break. You tell Mike you saw him take an extra shift of cleaning. You thank Mike and state that his willingness to ensure a clean weight room is important for the gym and the members. But you want to understand the interactions between Mike and John so decide to ask Mike the question three question, “How is your work experience this week?” Mike shares that this week has been difficult and that when he shares shifts with John, he always must finish John’s work. He also adds that he did appreciate the opportunity to talk through this issue and that he did not know if he could speak to anyone about completing John’s tasks. You thank Mike for sharing this information and assure him that the issue will be addressed, but you also decide to ask Mike, “Is there anything you need from me this week or this month to support you?” Mike says that he is tired and that he might need to be on rotation away from John. You tell Mike that you have heard him and that this request will be a priority in your focus. When John finishes his next rotation, you ask to visit him during his break. While you are not pleased with John shirking his tasks or yelling at Mike, you still believe in managing needs rather than micromanaging tasks. So, you begin your conversation with John in a usual manner asking, “How is your work experience this week?” John shares with you that he injured his back in a home improvement project over the last month. He expresses that he is in a great deal of pain. You tell John you are sorry to hear about the injury, and you follow up with the second questions, “Is there

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anything you need from me this week or this month to support you?” John says that he may need some time off to heal his back and see a doctor. You share with John that he can have the rest of the week off to heal. You also share with him that you appreciate his commitment to the job and that he can tell you if he is injured in the future. Finally, you mention, “If you are injured and unable to complete any aspect of your regular job tasks, please come get me and I will help you.” John agrees to this request and leaves for the day. You follow up with Mike and share with him that you appreciate his commitment to the job and that his rotation schedule will be changed for the next month. You also share that if Mike receives any additional requests to complete someone else’s job tasks, he should come to you, and you will address this issue. Through this process, you learn that John needed help as he was injured. John’s injury could result in safety concerns for him in the workplace and should be addressed. You also learn that John’s shirking of his behaviors and yelling at Mike were creating a hostile work environment for Mike. In your conversations with Mike, you identify that Mike was also lacking in safety needs as he did not feel he had the ability to communicate with anyone about John’s behaviors.

Conclusion Maslow believes people have a hierarchy of needs. Their basic needs of food, water, and shelter must be met prior to safety needs, prior to need to belong, prior to self-­ esteem, and prior to self-actualization. Maslow believes those that can self-­actualize, even for brief periods of time, will have happier lives. Maslow also believes that people who cannot self-actualize may either mistrust values and virtues introduced in their childhood, or they may fear success and the realization of their own potential. As a manager, we should be assessing and aware of our employees’ needs and lacking needs. Supporting employee attainment of necessary needs may be one way managers can minimize workplace bullying.

References

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Appendix (Figs. 6.1 and 6.2) Fig. 6.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Fig. 6.2  The Jonah complex

Success

Confusing Values and Boundaries.

Fear of Success.

References Boeree, C.G. (2006). Abraham Maslow. Personality theories. Retrieved from: https://webspace. ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). Van Nostrand Reinhold. Maslow, A. H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. Viking Press.

Chapter 7

David McClelland and the Theory of Needs in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying

David McClelland says, “One study suggests that the most effective way to increase in Achievement may be to try simply and directly to alter the nature of an individual's fantasies” (McClelland, 1961, p.  417). Dr. McClelland is describing that achievement, while important, is defined within the mind of the individual. Could unrealistic definitions of achievement contribute to individual choices of both bullying and victim behaviors? David McClelland (1917–1998) was an American psychologist recognized for his work on motivation. Between the 1950s and 1990s, he developed the achievement motivation theory. With this theory, McClelland explains that motivation is a recurrent theme for people which drives and directs their behaviors. In his 1961 book, The Achieving Society, McClelland identified three specific motivators that he believes all people possess: the need for achievement, the need for affiliation, and the need for power (Fig. 7.1). The need for achievement is the need to achieve something, and people with this need tend to excel in their desired activities and seek to avoid low reward, low-risk situations while pursuing difficult to achieve high-risk situations. The need for power is fueled by a desire to control or influence another person, and these people are driven to enhance their self-esteem, and their self-­ esteem feels strengthened when their views and ideas are accepted and implemented over the views and ideas over others. The need for affiliation is the urge to build interpersonal and social relationships, and these individuals seek to work in groups by creating friendly and lasting relationships, as they want to be liked by others. McClelland believes that these three motivators are universal regardless of gender, culture, or age. However, people will present different characteristics based on their dominant motivator, and their dominant motivator is dependent in many ways on our culture and life expectancy. McClelland’s achievement theory is interesting to examine in consideration of bullying and victim behaviors. Might someone that is bullying have a dominant need for power? Could someone that is perpetually a victim have a dominant need © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_7

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for affiliation? If one chooses to re-prioritize their needs, could they move away from bullying and/or victim behaviors?

Managerial Application As a seasoned manager, you look at each employee individually. You recognize their significance on your team, and you seek to understand their workplace needs. You are trained in sociopsychological theory, and you are fully aware of David McClelland’s needs theory. You know that, sometimes, you will have an employee that is experiencing an element of workplace bullying and through the application of sociopsychological theories you may be able to help the target overcome the bullying scenario and return to optimal workplace efficiency. The following is an overview of how you might apply McClelland’s needs theory in the workplace to support a target of workplace bullying. Recall that McClelland’s theory has three aspects, achievement, power, and affiliation. McClelland believes all people, employees, have these needs. • Need for achievement—all employees will seek to excel in their desired activities. • The need for power—all employees will have some desire to control or influence another person and a desire to enhance their self-esteem. • The need for affiliation—all employees seek to build interpersonal and social relationships; they want to be liked by others. Ideally, you are helping each of your employees fit within a balanced state where they are experiencing some achievement, some power, and some need for affiliation (Fig. 7.1). When you see an employee struggling with a concept, task, or idea, you begin by asking questions, and sometimes you apply McClelland’s theory as you are wondering if the employee is struggling with lacking needs of achievement, power, or affiliation. Here are some actions and questions you might ask if you are exploring an employees’ lacking needs of achievement, power, or affiliation. First, managers are always learning through observation. Managers should be observing their employees. If in a face-to-face office, you want to be observing the employee’s work efficiency, interactions with others, attitudes, energy level, etc. It is valuable to have many different styles of work behavior, but you are observing for consistency for each employee, meaning, what is employee A’s general efficiency, general interactions, attitudes, energy level, etc. If these characteristics change, you may want to take further observation. In terms of observing a virtual employee, you can watch for email frequency, email tone, efficiency of projects, interactions with colleagues, etc. You are watching for consistency within each employee. Second, during your weekly or monthly check-ins with employees, you should be seeking to understand how each employee feels in regard to their achievement, affiliation, and power. Again, you are seeking to support the employee in feeling successful in all three areas. You are seeking to support employees in this success because you want to see your employees succeed but also want to help support a

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positive work environment. If employees feel out of balance in these areas, out of balance in achievement, affiliation, or power, it is possible that they may be more susceptible to bullying a colleague to obtain balance or they may be more susceptible to being a workplace bullying target due to minimized self-esteem. It is okay to simply state to team members that you are checking in with them each week or each month because you care about their progress. It is okay to state you are checking in specifically seeking to understand their perceptions on personal achievement, affiliation, and power. We can simply ask the following: • How has Project A been going this month? What progress have you experienced? • Have you been able to build momentum and support for the project with your colleagues? • How are your interactions with team members and colleagues in regard to this project? • Is there anything you need from me? The first question will provide insight into the employees’ perceptions of achievement. The second question will provide insight into the employee’s perceptions of power. The third question will provide insight into the employee’s perceptions of affiliation. Asking employees if they need anything from you is helpful in two ways. First, this opens the door for communication about workplace needs. Second, this gives the employee the opportunity to explicitly state what they need to experience workplace achievement. An employee that is in harmony in all three may be experiencing a positive work environment. An employee that is struggling in one or more of the three areas may be experiencing achievement challenges, and as a manager, you want to explore this further through conversation. You want to identify what you can do to help the employee optimize all three areas in order to support their achievement and to minimize workplace stress and incivilities.

Real World Scenario “You know John does not like you.” With a shocked face you reply, “No, Eileen. I did not know John did not like me.” You have just arrived to work at your Silicon Valley startup where you have a team of eight carefully hired and selected engineers who are developing products that will reduce overall global emissions. In fact, timelines and product development are your focus. You check in with each of your team members weekly, and you focus solely on quantifying their project completion milestones because this is most important. The team must develop and get their products to market. Nothing else matters. Right? Eileen, a product developers’ comment, stops you in your tracks. You are no longer moving toward your office door, and your thoughts on project milestones have disappeared. You are simply staring at Eileen with one arm full of folders and

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the other hand carrying a coffee. The two of you stare at each other until Eileen breaks the silence, “I thought you should know. Yesterday, while working on the product, John said that you were barely able to lead and that this company is going to fail.” You stare at Eileen for a few more seconds, say, “Thank you,” and turn to go into your office. You close your office door and sit down. You are deflated and shocked. You hired each of your eight employees and you think highly of John. While your focus has been on product development, you have studied McClelland’s theory of achievement, and you decide to examine this issue from McClelland’s perspective. You have two employees that may have a concern, John and Eileen. You decide to start a conversation with John. You go to John’s office. Say, “Hello,” with a smile and ask to talk with John. “John, I would like to check in with you. Is now a good time?” John says sure. You tell John you are going to begin checking in on each employee’s work experience because it matters to you if each of your employees has a positive work environment. John smiles and says “thank you.” You begin by asking John four questions. You are seeking information about John’s feelings of achievement, power, and affiliation. You ask John the following: • How has the development of the product been going this month? What progress have has he experienced? • Have you been able to build momentum and support for the project with your colleagues? • How are your interactions with team members and colleagues regarding this project? In John’s responses, he says that his project, his part of the product, is one track and meeting each milestone. He says he experienced a great success this week and he was able to develop an innovative instrument. John says he works well with his colleagues, that they are all listening to and supporting each other. John also says that this is his favorite job to date. You feel relieved and end the conversation with, “Is there anything you need from me?” John looks at you for a few seconds and says, “Yes, actually there is. Yesterday, I felt a great deal of panic. I was not sure we would finish our milestone, and I felt like I needed your insight and help to reach the milestone. If we need additional help, in a time crunch, are you willing to jump in and help?” You are shocked and you respond, “I am not only willing to jump in, that would be fun. Please ask if you need help. Do you feel better today? Do you need help today?” John responds that he does feel better today and that he will ask for help next time. With this information, you decide to check in with Eileen. Again, you are seeking to understand Eileen’s current experience and her feelings of achievement; you are not seeking to gossip or further negative communications. You leave John’s office and go to Eileen’s office. You ask Eileen if you can talk to her for a few minutes. She smiles and says, “Yes. You want to talk about John?” You answer, “No, actually, I wanted to check in with you.” You proceed to ask her three questions to understand her feelings of achievement, power, and affiliation at work.

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• How has your product development been going this month? What progress have you experienced? • Have you been able to build momentum and support for the project with your colleagues? • How are your interactions with team members and colleagues in regard to this project? As you ask each question, you learn that Eileen is having trouble with her aspect of the product development. Actually, she does not think she will meet her next milestone. She feels part of the reason she will not meet her milestone is because her colleagues are not listening to her and doing what she asks. You conclude the question by asking Eileen, “Is there anything you need from me?” She answers, “I need your help getting the other engineers to contribute to my portion of the product development process. I help them but they never help me. For example, I helped John reach his milestone yesterday and he said he did not have time to help me today.” As you listen to Eileen, you are thinking a few things. First, you think there was a stressful event yesterday where likely John needed help and he likely expressed distressed comments about needing help from colleagues and leadership. Second, you think both John and Eileen are expressing challenges in reaching their milestones resulting in tensions in the workplace. These would be challenges with achievement. Finally, you identify that Eileen is expressing challenges with affiliation and possibly power. She does not feel she is part of a strong working team, and she does not think her colleagues are listening to her. You thank Eileen for talking with you, and you inform Eileen that you will have a team meeting this afternoon and hopefully you can put some parameters in place to support team cohesiveness. You go back to your office and begin preparing for your team meeting. In the meeting, you will share that you will support the team as a leader and that you are available each day to contribute to any aspect of any organizational project. You will also share that teamwork will be needed for the product to go to market on time. You will ask the engineers to collaborate with each other, and you will introduce a bonus equally given to all eight engineers if the milestones and product launch date are met from here forth. Finally, you share a few pieces of information about each team member and their strengths needed for project completion. From here forth you are committed to not only checking in on milestones but also checking in about employees’ perceptions of achievement, power, and affiliation. You recognized that Eileen’s conversation could be experienced as bullying. She was gossiping and telling “half-truth” information to create discourse in the office. You know you must eliminate these behaviors because if gossip and discourse continue, the work environment will become hostile.

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Conclusion McClelland believes most people possess a mixture of needs, needs for achievement, needs for power, and needs for affiliation. People will present different characteristics based on their dominant motivator. For example, some people may have a dominant need for achievement, and this would be their driving need, while other people may have a dominant need for affiliation, and this would be their dominant motivator. Managers must be observant and understand their employees’ work progress and work needs. If an employee appears to be challenged in reaching a work milestone or work need, exploring the employees’ perceptions of their own achievement, power, or affiliation may be one way to support each employee. Supporting employees in accurately perceiving their achievement, their power, and their affiliation can be a way to maintain a positive work environment and a way to minimize incivilities in the workplace.

Appendix (Fig. 7.1)

Fig. 7.1 McClelland’s theory of needs

Reference McClelland, D. (1961). The achieving society. Simon and Schuster.

Chapter 8

Harry Stack-Sullivan and the Interpersonal Theory in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying

Harry Stack-Sullivan said, “If you have to maintain self-esteem by pulling down the standing of others, you are extraordinarily unfortunate” (Sullivan, 2003, p. 242). Dr. Stack-Sullivan’s quote illuminates the idea that if we attempt to build our self-­ esteem by hurting others, we will likely not have fortunes of self-esteem, friendships, or happiness. Harry Stack-Sullivan (1892–1949) was an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst that believed “personality can never be isolated from the complex interpersonal relationships interpersonal relationships in which [a] person lives” and that “[t]he field of psychiatry is the field of interpersonal relations under any and all circumstances in which [such] relations exist” (Sullivan, 1947, p. 4). Sullivan contributed to the understanding that the individual is enmeshed in personal networks and personal relationships (Fig.  8.1). His theory of interpersonal relationships identifies cultural forces as largely responsible for shaping people and causing mental illness. Sullivan (1953) defines personality as “the relatively enduring pattern of recurrent interpersonal situations which characterize a human life” (pp. 110–111). The “interpersonal situation” is the fundamental unit of analysis in interpersonal theory. Interpersonal situations are events involving a self and other and associated with an affective experience. The individual is seeking to satisfy basic motivations like security and self-esteem through these interpersonal relationships. In an interaction, if individual’s needs of security and self-esteem are met, the interaction is positive and the behaviors are reinforced. On the other hand, in an interaction, when these needs are not met, people become frustrated and the interaction is unpleasant. Sullivan believes we search for satisfaction via personal involvement specifically, to overcome or avoid loneliness. Loneliness, according to Sullivan, is one of the most painful human experiences. In 1953, Sullivan presented the idea that the patterns of interpersonal situations, dynamisms, can occur through age-appropriate social learning and there are three facets which influence the development of early personality, anxiety, geographical © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_8

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location, and family size (Fig. 8.2). With anxiety, people fear social interactions, and in turn their personality develops a preference for avoiding them, and this avoidance characteristic can cause fewer satisfying interpersonal relationships over time. Geographical location impacts interpersonal situations as people who live in rural areas have fewer opportunities to develop relationships, and with a limited pool of personalities and relationship possibilities, the growth and development of a personality is limited. Family size influences interpersonal situations, for example, when a child is the only child in the family, their social interactions occur primarily with their adult parents as compared to children who grow up with siblings, who have more opportunity to socially interact with other children their same age. The interpersonal theory suggests that a person’s personality is the foundation of their energy system. So, the person is generating energy that is providing either positive or negative outcomes. If the outcome is positive, the individual may transform, and if the energy is negative, the individual will experience tension. Transformation occurs from positive energy that is converted into behaviors, and these behaviors can be overt, conscious decisions, or covert, actions completed without thinking because the processes are automated in the mind. Tensions develop when needs are not met in response to feelings like hunger, anxiety, and exhaustion. Sullivan’s interpersonal theory can offer insight into bullying and victim behaviors. According to the theory, individuals develop their personality through interpersonal situations. Personality fuels energy that is either positive or negative in relationships. An individual’s choice of applying positive or negative energy eventually becomes a habit that influences the person’s interactions, and the interactions reinforce their personality. In other words, our relationships influence who we are as people, and our relationships influence our personality. With this idea, even one positive relationship can be enough to support someone in developing a strong and influential personality. On the other hand, even one negative relationship could influence a person to develop a weak and timid personality. Could an individual that engages in bullying or victim behaviors be generating energy, from unconscious choices that are fueling negative outcomes and tensions due to unmet needs? Could surrounding people who engage in bullying or victim behaviors with other people who consistently choose positive energy influence the bully or victim to develop a strong and positive personality?

Managerial Application Dr. Sullivan’s ideas on personality are fascinating, and awareness of how employee personality may influence workplace bullying events is important. Managers should understand Dr. Sullivan’s theories and realize that each employee will have a unique personality and that their personality was shaped through events somewhat beyond their control like personal networks and personal relationships. More specifically, early personality is shaped through anxiety, geographic location, and family size. Finally, interpersonal theory suggests that their personality, which was shaped in

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many ways by external circumstances, is an energy system. Positive energy supports transformation while negative energy supports tension, and tensions can develop when needs are not met in response to feelings including hunger, anxiety, exhaustion, lack of belonging, and lack of esteem. Understanding Dr. Sullivan’s interpersonal theory is one strategy or “tool” managers can use to support employees’ in workplace need attainment and to support a positive and productive work environment. With this in mind, the following will describe a potential managerial application of Dr. Sullivan’s theory of interpersonal relationships to support employee needs and positive work environments. Ongoing observations and ongoing communications are critical for managers as they seek to understand their employees and to maintain a positive and productive team. Through a lens of Dr. Sullivan’s theory, manager should take the following observation steps: • Observe employees in their work and interaction with colleagues. Try to frame their natural personality. • Does the employee have a “bubbly” personality? A “quiet” personality? An “outgoing” personality? • Watch for personality changes. • Observe how the employees’ personality supports or detracts from their work productivity. • Observe how the employees’ personality supports or detracts from effective working relationships. • Based on observations, communicate with the employee about how their strengths contribute to organizational achievement and other characteristics they may want to develop. Through the lens of the theory of interpersonal relationships, the manager should consider the following employee communications: • How is your energy this week? This month? This quarter? • What would you need from me to support positive energy at work? • What would you need from me to eliminate any workplace tensions? In addition to observation and communication, managers can offer personality assessments to their employees. With a personality assessment, employees can further explore their own personality and frame and understand the personality of their coworkers. There are several personality assessments like Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DiscProfile, and Truity. Regardless of the personality assessment selected, managers should be aware of personality types and how personality types may influence work. Additionally, managers can speak, offer personality training, and continually communicate with those diverse personalities’ support innovation and creativity on teams.

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Real World Application As a product development manager at a food development company, you and your employees spend a great deal of time thinking and writing or in the lab alone. You oversee five food scientists, and each scientist is responsible for creating and testing a new product each quarter. You hire based on qualifications with a specific focus on product development. Of course, you observe and think about the candidate’s personality when you hire, but the priority is generally on candidate alignment with job tasks. Over time, you have found that you may need to assess personality as well as job requirements as your team is increasingly experiencing personality conflicts, especially with the new hire Linda. Personality conflicts that escalated to workplace bullying became apparent in the last team meeting. Each month, you and the five food scientists meet, and each scientist is given about 15 min to share regarding the progress on their most recent project. The goal is to support transparency, communication, and collective support for each team member. When it is Greg’s turn to share, Linda begins to interrupt. In fact, Linda interrupts Greg in his presentation ten times, “Where are you going with this Greg?” and “Greg, can you just get to the big picture?” As the behavior continues, other coworkers chime in and say things like, “Linda, let’s let Greg finish the entire product overview and then ask questions.” But Linda continues to interrupt. As this is the first time this behavior has occurred, you as the manager are observing carefully. As the interruptions continue, you see Greg simply “give up” and sit down. While Greg is clearly upset, the other team members seem okay but slightly annoyed, and Linda seems unaware of any issues. You decide: Linda did not have purposeful negative intent, but repeated interruption can be categorized as workplace bullying and this must be addressed. While you are going to speak with Linda privately, when the meeting concludes, you ask Linda to stay behind in front of the entire group because you want the group, especially Greg, to know that this behavior is going to be addressed. Everyone leaves and Linda continues to seem unaware of how her actions and behavior may have impacted Greg. You know there are many reasons why someone would interrupt someone else, and three types of interruption can be power interruptions, rapport interruptions, and neutral interruptions (Goldberg, 1990). The power interrupter is seeking to gain control of a conversation. The rapport interrupters are generally benign, and they are trying to add to the conversation. The neutral interrupter may be simply excited or emotional about the topic. With this information, you reflect on Linda’s personality, and you know she has a very assertive personality, as she wants information fast so she can make decisions and move on. You also think the repeated interruption about Greg was to obtain information quickly but also to assert power in the room, namely, over Greg. Finally, you know that having an employee with an assertive personality can be beneficial to your team, and you know that Linda’s personality likely developed through experiences like where she grew up, anxiety, and family size. You are not attempting to change her personality,

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but you do need Linda to treat colleagues in a respectful manner regardless of natural personality type. As you have been observing Linda at work, you know she is assertive in her everyday food development work, and this personality trait helps her meet work goals and deadlines. This is the first instance where her personality of assertiveness also appeared like bullying in the workplace. You want to understand Linda’s personality and her current experience with transformation or tension at work. So, you begin the dialog. “Linda, I asked you to stay behind because I would like to talk with you. We have monthly meetings to allow each team member to share their current projects and their current milestones. If we listen carefully to our coworkers’ current projects and milestones, we may identify areas where we can help them reach their goals. We may also find areas where we overlap and can create efficiencies. The meetings are to help in team development.” Linda nods her head yes. You further share, “We need to let each team member share their complete project and ideas for this meeting to be efficient and support team achievement. Does this make sense?” Linda nods her head yes. As Linda is not speaking, you ask, “Do you think Greg feels he was able to clearly and thoroughly share about his project?” Linda looks at you with wide eyes. She is surprised and slowly answers “No. I guess not.” You share that you do not think Greg even finished his presentation. Linda answers, “Well he was moving so slow, and I think he was sharing information we all already have. We all know the earlier steps in his process. This extra information was taking extra time and it was not needed.” You state that each scientist has 10–15 min to present and what they present is their choice. No scientist will be rushed. Linda nods in agreement. You want to check in if Linda is missing any workplace needs to help minimize her behaviors that may be experienced by others as anything from assertive to bullying. So, you ask Linda the following: • How is your energy this week? This month? This quarter? • What would you need from me to support positive energy at work? • What would you need from me to eliminate any workplace tensions? Linda shares that she feels she is experiencing great energy in her job. She also shares that she feels she does not have quite enough time to devote to her project and this is making her feel very rushed at work. You ask her to elaborate on this point. She says that the daily check-in meetings at the start of each morning are making her miss her daily milestones. You tell her that you will consider moving the daily check meetings to a virtual task timeline. You will let her know next week if this is possible. You ask her if this would help and if there is anything else she needs from you. She says no and she also offers to apologize to Greg for interrupting. You thank her and say that would be helpful. We want to build a culture where everyone has a voice on our team. You also check in with Greg as you observed his presentation experience to be very discouraging to him. You stop by Greg’s office and ask if he has a few minutes to talk. Greg says he does have time. You go in and sit down and thank Greg for

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sharing his monthly project update. You ask if there was anything else Greg had hoped to share in the presentation that he was not able to share. Greg says, “Thank you for asking. Linda kept interrupting me and I was not able to share all of my monthly updates. I just gave up. There was no point in talking any further. No matter what I said, she interrupted me. I am not sure I will give my monthly update again in the future if Linda is in the meeting.” You have worked with Greg for a long time and you have observed that Greg has an amiable personality style; he values personal relationships and wants to trust his coworkers, and he is laid back. He would like to speak informally and take time in communication to build trust. You tell Greg you observed the interruptions and that you do not think he will experience interruptions again in his future presentations. You also want to check in with Greg regarding his energy, so you ask the following: • How is your energy this week? This month? This quarter? • What would you need from me to support positive energy at work? • What would you need from me to eliminate any workplace tensions? Greg answers that his energy has been fine this month and he does think he is reaching his goals. He would like to avoid working with Linda as he does think she minimizes his energy. You tell Greg you understand and that you will think about how to minimize these tensions in the future. You will check back with him next week; you mention that you may be able to eliminate the daily morning check-in meetings, and this would have him interacting with the entire team only once a month. You ask if this would be helpful. He answers yes.

Conclusion Sullivan believes that a person’s personality is the foundation for their energy system, and they use this energy in a positive way or negative way within our relationships. As managers, we need to understand our employees and their personalities. We cannot change an employee’s personality, but we can understand their personality and help coworkers understand each other too. It is important to talk about personality types with employees and within your teams and to communicate that we have all developed our personalities due to our lived experiences. We can also talk about how our natural personalities support or detract from organizational success.

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Appendix (Figs. 8.1 and 8.2)

Fig. 8.1  Harry Stack-­ Sullivan’s theory of interpersonal relationships Personality

Personal Networks

Personal Relaonships

Early Personality

Anxiety

Geographical Location

Family Size

Fig. 8.2  Influencers of early personality

References Goldberg, J. (1990). Interrupting the discourse on interruptions: An analysis in terms of relationally neutral power- and rapport- oriented acts. Journal of Pragmatics, 14(6), 883–903. Sullivan, H. S. (1947). Conceptions of modern psychiatry (pp. 4–5). William A. White Psychiatric Foundation. Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. W W Norton. Sullivan, H. S. (2003). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. Psychology Press.

Chapter 9

Karen Horney and the Theory of Neurotic Needs in Support of a Positive Work Environment and Victims of Workplace Bullying

Karen Horney says, “If you want to be proud of yourself, then do things in which you can take pride” (Horney, 1950). Dr. Horney is highlighting the cycle between positive actions and positive self-esteem and negative actions and negative self-­ esteem. Could the negative actions of bullying and victimhood contribute to poor self-esteem and ultimately to a perpetually negative cycle? Karen Horney (1885–1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during the latter part of her career. She is considered the founder of feminist psychology, and she suggested an environmental and social basis for the personality and its disorders. In her book, Self-Analysis (1942), Horney outlined her ideas on personality, specifically her theory of neurosis. She identified different types of neurotic behaviors that she believed developed from the overuse of coping strategies to deal with basic anxiety. According to Horney, basic anxiety and therefore neurosis could result from a variety of things including “direct or indirect domination, indifference, erratic behavior, lack of respect for the child's individual needs, lack of real guidance, disparaging attitudes, too much admiration or the absence of it, lack of reliable warmth, having to take sides in parental disagreements, too much or too little responsibility, over-protection, isolation from other children, injustice, discrimination, unkept promises, hostile atmosphere, and so on and so on” (Horney, 1946). In other words, she believes that neurosis results from basic anxiety caused by interpersonal relationships and when one tries to overuse the coping mechanisms to manage anxiety, they take on the appearance of a need. In her work, Horney outlined ten neurotic needs (Table 9.1). Horney not only identifies ten neurotic needs; she eventually condenses the neurotic needs into three categories of strategies that may be used to manage neurosis. The three strategies include needs that move you toward others, needs that move you away from others, and needs that move you against others (Fig. 9.1). Needs that move you toward others can cause individuals to seek affirmation and acceptance from others and may be described as needy or clingy as they seek approval and love. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_9

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Needs that move you away from others create hostility and antisocial behavior, and these individuals are often described as cold, indifferent, and aloof. Needs that move you against others often result in hostility and a need to control other people, and these individuals are often described as difficult, domineering, and unkind. Well-­ adjusted individuals utilize all three of these strategies, shifting focus depending on internal and external factors. These coping strategies become neurotic when one strategy is overused, and the overuse creates a situation creating conflict, turmoil, and confusion. In reviewing Horney’s theory of neurotic needs as it relates to bullying and victim behavior, could the bully or victim have one of the ten neurotic needs and additionally overuse one of the three management strategies to cope? Could helping both a bully and victim recognize neuroticism and develop their ability to rely on all three coping strategies help end the cycle of bullying or victimhood?

Managerial Application Manager can benefit from understanding Horney’s theory of neurotic needs. Specifically, managers can be watching for employees who are demonstrating the ten neurotic needs. Managers can also watch for employees whose needs are moving them toward people, away from people, or against people. Each of these needs can be identified through behaviors: • Compliance and moving toward people –– –– –– ––

Needy Clingy Seeking approval Seeking love

• Expansion/aggression and moving away from people –– –– –– –– ––

Cold Indifferent Aloof Exploitation Seeking prestige

• Detachment/withdrawal and moving against people –– Difficult –– Domineering –– Unkind Ideally, as a manager, you are creating a work environment where your employees have a balance between their needs of affirmation/acceptance, hostility, and control. It is ideal that your team members use all three of these strategies to maintain working relationships.

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In your ongoing observations and communications with team members, you should be watching for demonstrations of the ten neurotic needs. You should also be watching for the overarching three categories of needs. In observation, be watching for employees that are balanced or out of balance in their compliance, be watching for employees that are balanced or out of balance in their aggression, and be watching for employees that are balanced or out of balance in their detachment. It is important to note you are making short- and long-term observations. Concern should develop when an employee’s needs are inconsistent with their normal behaviors or when an employee’s needs are causing difficulties for other employees. In conversation, there are a few questions you can ask to check in with your employees’ current states and their ability to balance compliance, aggression, and detachment. • Do you have any needs from me or the team in terms of supporting your job goals? –– An employee that is in balance with compliance will likely have some requests or reasonable requests. –– An imbalanced employee with compliance may never have a request or may ask for unrealistic support. • Are you comfortable with your current level of achievement in the organization? –– An employee that is in balance with achievement will likely describe periods of time where they are comfortable and periods of time where they are uncomfortable with their achievement. –– An employee that is out of balance with achievement may use other employees to obtain their own success, and they are seeking achievement for admiration and recognition purposes. • Do you have enough team support to complete your job tasks? –– An employee that is in balance with attachment/detachment will likely have periods of time where they are experiencing successful team collaboration and periods of time where they are working on their own. –– An employee that is out of balance with attachment/detachment may never describe experiences of collaborative success and may seek complete self-sufficiency. As a manager, you are not trying to delve into the private lives of the employees. You are not trying to psychoanalyze the employees. You are simply trying to understand their needs, as they are willing to present them. You are seeking to support their needs, not to change their lives or intrude but with the intent of supporting each employee in optimizing their experience within your organization. Understanding and addressing employees’ needs can optimize work groups, and understanding and addressing employee needs is one way to minimize incidents of workplace bullying. Understanding Horney’s ten neurotic needs and the overarching themes is one tool that managers can use to support some employees in achieving at work and maintaining civil work relationships.

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Real World Application As a director of an engineering department at a defense company, you believe in Dr. Karen Horney’s idea that “most of us want and appreciate affection, self-control, modesty, and consideration of others.” You also agree with Horney that if we see someone displaying a “neurotic need,” they are seeking a feeling of safety or security under times of confusion, distress, or stunted growth. You conduct your weekly employee observations and communications with an awareness of Horney’s work and neurotic needs, and you are proactive in addressing these needs in an attempt to support your team members and to maintain a positive work environment. As a director for a team of engineers at a defense contract company, you maintain a lean team and need each team member to maximize their contribution. In general, all your team completes their weekly reports on time, submitting them by Friday at the end of the workday, but one employee. You arrive on Monday morning and check the weekly reports and see that Mark once again has not submitted his weekly report. You contact Margery who is the manager over this department and tell her that Mark has once again not submitted his report. You emphasize this is a problem because the organization reviews the reports on Monday. Margery is surprised to hear this because she talked with Mark last week and reminded him that the weekly reports were a significant part of his job responsibilities. While on the phone, Margery pulls her managerial notes on Mark from the last quarter. In her notes, she shows that Mark has only submitted his weekly report on time 50% of the time, 30% of the time the report is late, and 20% of the time the report is not submitted. Additionally, her notes highlight that she has mentioned to Mark that the report must be submitted by Friday at 5pm six times in the last quarter. You tell Margery that you will be attending her teams’ Monday morning meeting and that the issue of the weekly reports must be addressed. You arrive at the meeting and note that Margery’s entire team is there, including Mark. Margery follows the standard meeting protocol and addresses all key points of departmental business. At the end of the meeting, Margery states that she has one more point she needs to address. She states to the group that everyone must please remember to submit their weekly reports by 5pm on Friday. She adds that these reports are not only used to track departmental milestones, but they are also used to support overall organizational decisions. Most of the team nods their heads yes, but Mark speaks up and says, “Why do the reports have to be in on Friday? Monday morning would work better for me and in fact I’m pretty sure Monday morning works better for everyone.” Mark then turns to the group and asks, “Wouldn’t you all agree? Friday is a terrible time, am I right?” When Mark looks around the room, another team member, Amy, speaks up and says, “Yeah, I think I would prefer Monday morning for submitting the reports too.” Mark adds another statement, “Friday does not work for us.” Margery looks shocked. “The report time is nonnegotiable for the entire organization. Reports can be submitted early but never late as per the executive team.” Mark then chimes in again and says, “Why though? I am sure management does not

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look at the reports until Monday morning?” To which Margery has no answer. She just stares at Mark. As the director, you chime in, thank everyone for coming to the meeting, and close the meeting. You wait until everyone else leaves and ask to speak with Margery. You begin by stating to Margery, “That was a challenging meeting. How do you feel?” Margery states that she was surprised that Mark was so rude in front of everyone, and she shares that he does that every meeting. Every time I try to ask the group to complete a task, he argues about the task. Every time.” You tell Margery you are sorry and that you do think this is a challenging scenario but that you think the two of you can come up with a solution. You start out by sharing with Margery that, of course, Mark may need some support to reconsider his meeting behavior, but you want to focus on Margery right now and how to help her develop in a way that this issue is minimized. You ask Margery why she did not stop Mark or speak more firmly in the meeting. She says she wants to be sure everyone likes her. She thinks everyone likes Mark and if she yells at Mark, no one will like her. This brings tears to her ideas. You say you understand. You also say, in fact, most of us want affection, self-control, modesty, and consideration of others. You share with her you learned this by reading Dr. Horney’s work. You ask Margery if she thinks she is overly compliant or concerned with approval from others at work? Margery says, “Yes.” You ask Margery how this is impacting her work, and she said she is unable to get Mark to complete his job tasks on time because she wants her team to like her. With this information, you say to Margery, we need to work on this. We do not want you to be overly focused on approval from others. You should be balanced in seeking approval, power, and relationships/task completion. With this in mind, you are going to go over three questions to see where you can help her in these areas. You ask Margery the following: • Do you have any needs from me or the team in terms of supporting your job goals? • Are you comfortable with your current level of achievement in the organization? • Do you have enough team support to complete your job tasks? Margery answers each question, and she says she does need some managerial training in working with obstinate or bullying employees. She says that she is comfortable with her department’s overall milestones but that she wants 100% on time submission of the weekly reports. Finally, she says that she does, in general, have enough team support but that Mark is generally not a team player and he consistently tries to get others to work for her. You agree to sign her up for some managerial training specifically designed to help with dealing with obstinate and bullying employees. You do tell her that she will be evaluated based on her teams’ ability to submit their weekly reports so she needs to fix this issue and she should likely speak to Mark about his behavior. You agree that Mark is acting in an oppositional manner, and you also wonder if his aggressive behavior of moving toward Margery is the result of anxiety caused by interpersonal relationships. From this perspective, you recommend that Margery begin by asking Mark the three questions you asked her. You recommend that she seek to understand why he is opposing her authority. You also recommend that

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Margery communicate to him that his behavior can be viewed as oppositional and that part of maintaining his job will be meeting required deadlines and due dates. Margery says she can have the conversation and she will let you know what Mark says.

Conclusion Horney identified that if an individual is functioning and well-adjusted, they will utilize all three strategies, moving toward, away, or against others, shifting between the strategies based on internal and external factors. However, if one is in a neurotic state, they may use only one of the styles, and this overuse as a coping mechanism creates conflict, turmoil, and confusion. Managers can seek to understand their employees’ behaviors within these three frames. Managers can try to support employees in having a balance in their compliance, aggression, and expansion at work not only to support the employee’s success but to support a civil work environment.

Appendix (Table 9.1 and Fig. 9.1)

Table 9.1  Horney’s ten neurotic needs 1. The neurotic need for affection and approval—this need includes the desires to be liked, to please other people, and to meet the expectations of others. 2. The neurotic need for a partner who will take over one’s life—this involves the need to be centered on a partner. People with this need suffer extreme fear of being abandoned by their partner. 3. The neurotic need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders—individuals with this need prefer to remain inconspicuous and unnoticed. 4. The neurotic need for power—individuals with this need seek power. 5. The neurotic need to exploit others—these individuals view others in terms of what can be gained through association with them. 6. The neurotic need for prestige—individuals with a need for prestige value themselves in terms of public recognition and acclaim. 7. The neurotic need for personal admiration—individuals with a neurotic need for personal admirations are narcissistic and have an exaggerated self-perception. 8. The neurotic need for personal achievement—according to Horney, people push themselves to achieve greater and greater things as a result of basic insecurity. 9. The neurotic need for self-sufficiency and independence—these individuals exhibit a “loner” mentality, distancing themselves from others to avoid being tied down or dependent upon other people. 10. The neurotic need for perfection and unassailability—these individuals constantly strive for complete infallibility.

References

Compliance

Expansion/Aggression

Detachment/Withdrawal

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• Affection and approval, partner and power. • Movement toward other people. • The compliant personality.

• Exploit others, social recognition, personal admiration, personal achievement and self sufficiency. • Movement against other people. • The aggressive personality.

• Perfection, restrict life practices. • Movement away from other people. • The detachment personality.

Fig. 9.1  Horney’s strategies that may be used to manage neurosis

References Horney, K. (1942). Self-analysis. Routledge. Horney, K. (1946). Our inner conflicts: A constructive theory of neurosis. Routledge. Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth: The struggle towards self-realization. Norton.

Chapter 10

Comprehensive Review of the Theories and Application Scenarios

According to Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Sullivan, and Horney, individuals who struggle to have productive interpersonal relationships may do so out of missing or lacking individual needs. Adler might say they are bullied because they feel inferior. Maslow might say they bully because they are unable to self-actualize. McClelland might say they are focused on one need and unable to shift successfully between all three. Sullivan might say they are using their interpersonal energy in a negative way. Horney might say they are overusing a coping strategy due to anxiety. But all express concerns for individuals who are not having their needs met as a lack of needs can drive undesirable behavior. The ideas of these five theorists as they relate to workplace bullying are summarized in Fig. 10.1. Could identifying missing needs and helping one fill these needs help end bullying of victim behaviors? As a manager, observing and communication with employees in an ongoing basis such that one has awareness of their needs and need typology are certainly one managerial strategy that can be applied to support employees’ perception of success and to minimize workplace incivilities. The answer may be yes and the answer may be no. Addressing workplace bullying is nuanced, and managers will need a vast number of managerial theories or tools to support a positive work environment that remains positive regardless of internal and external changes. To help managers consider if an analysis of employee needs might be beneficial for development of individual employee self-esteem and self-actualization and workplace harmony, an overview of other options for dealing with workplace bullying will be summarized. Let’s start by considering that there are at least two main theories about why workplace bullying occurs. Recall that bullying in the workplace is a pattern of behavior or conduct where workers are exposed to ridicule, social isolation, harassment, violence, etc. One theory is that there are personal issues with the bully or the victim, and a second theory is that there are issues with the work culture (Saripalli & Keller, 2022). In reflection of these two theories, there are several types of workplace bullies: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_10

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• Unaware bully –– These bullies may have a lack of awareness of topics or of how their actions impact others. • Insulting bully –– These bullies may yell, scream, and insult others. • Passive-aggressive bully –– These bullies may offer seemingly complimentary statements, but the statements are insults. • Scheming bully –– These bullies may be gossiping, planting untruths, and attempting to undermine individuals at work. • Violent bully –– These bullies engage in verbal or physical violence with organizational stakeholders. • Targeting bully –– These bullies pick one individual that they attack. Also, there are several work environments that facilitate workplace bullying: • Core mission, vision, and values are unclear or missing. –– Employees with direction may experience higher levels of workplace stress and tension. • Core mission, vision, and values are present but not followed by all. –– When team members and leadership do not follow core mission, vision, and values, organizational conflicts can develop. • Organizational turnover is high. –– High turnover indicates an organizational issue. –– High turnover also requires that employees who remain pick up additional work, and this can cause additional stress. • Competition is the main employee focus. –– If competition, winning, is the only way for an employee to succeed, employees may be motivated to engage in uncivil work behaviors. • Workplace gossip is high. –– Workplace gossip is destructive and supports division among employees.

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• There are many strategies managers try in order to address workplace bullying caused either by individuals or by workplace culture. Common managerial responses to workplace bullying include the following: • Education or training –– Managers can offer workplace bullying training or have an external entity provide workplace bullying training. –– Managers may also choose to offer conflict resolution training to their employees. • Asking the bully to stop –– Many managers will begin by speaking with the bully and simply asking them to stop specific behaviors. • Creating organizational workplace bullying policies –– Many organizations have written policies defining workplace bullying and the consequences for violating the policy. • Ignoring the issue –– Managers may pretend not to see workplace bullying, or they may choose to take no action when bullying events occur. • Terminating the bully –– Managers may document bullying events and work with HR to terminate the workplace bullying. • Creating anonymous reporting systems –– Managers may create a system where victims of workplace bullying can anonymously report attacks. These are just a few of the numerous examples that industry and academic present to help managers address workplace bullying. While there are numerous strategies and numerous studies about how workplace bullying might be addressed, literature is increasing acknowledging that many of the commonly identified interventions are not often effective (Emamzadeh, 2018). Interventions like training, asking the bully to stop, creating organizational workplace bullying policies, ignoring the issue, terminating the bully, or creating anonymous reporting systems may be ineffective because they are reactive approaches. Likely a better solution to supporting a civil work environment is to proactively address employee needs everyday such that individuals and teams’ function is a positive and healthy work environment. To be clear, understanding Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Sullivan, and Horney as they relate to workplace bullying is not a guaranteed solution. However, this awareness may create one more tool or strategy for each manager to use when they analyze their individual employees and their own work departments. Certainly, awareness of employee needs and addressing these needs in a proactive fashion will be helpful for some managers, sometimes, in minimizing workplace incivilities.

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Appendix (Fig. 10.1) Adler

Maslow

McClelland

Stack-Sullivan

Horney

Individual Psychology

Humanistic Psychology Hierarchy of Needs.

Theory of Interpersonal Relationships.

Theory of Neurosis.

Individual Struggle for Achievement

The Achievement Motivation Theory.

Identified three specific Personality is complex and motivators that all people shaped through Individuals are impacted possess: interpersonal • Safety by: relationships. • Need for Achievement • Love/Belonging • Relationships • Anxiety • Need for Power • Self-esteem • Emotions • Geographic Location • Need for Affiliation • Self-actualization • Interactions • Family Size Managers can help Managers can help Managers can help Managers can help employees succeed: employees succeed: employees perceive employees succeed: • Awareness of their success: • Awareness of employee perceptions of their • Awareness of employee needs. • occupation/work personalities. achievement, power and • Supporting attainment affiliation. • Society/friendship Managers should help of employee work Managers should support employees in experiencing related needs. • Love/sexuality employees in experiencing positive energy at work to Managers should recognize Managers should recognize work related success in minimize workplace unmet needs can feelings of inferiority can incivilities. achievement, power and contribute to work create work incivilities. affiliation to help minimize incivilities. workplace incivilities. • Physiological

Developed 10 neurotic behaviors and three overarching themes. The three overarching themes are needs that: Move you towards others. Move you away from others. Move you against others. Managers can help employees succeed: • Awareness of their needs and their coping strategies. Managers should help employees have balanced coping skills to minimize workplace incivilities.

Fig. 10.1  The Theories of Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Stack-Sullivan, Horney in relation to workplace bullying

References Emamzadeh, A. (2018). Workplace bullying: Causes, effects and prevention. Psychology Today.. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-­a-­new-­home/201809/ workplace-­bullying-­causes-­effects-­and-­prevention Saripalli, V., & Keller, A. (2022). All about workplace bullying. PsychCentral.. Retrieved from: https://psychcentral.com/health/workplace-­bullying

Chapter 11

Conclusion

Research indicates that bullies may be created in part due to antisocial traits including the desire to dominate others, positive attitudes toward violence, inability to empathize, a tendency to ascribe hostile meanings to ambiguous situations, a way to conceal their own issues with self-esteem, and impulsiveness. Bullying may also develop based on childhood exposure to parenting that is harsh, neglectful, absent, rejecting, and lacking in positive emotional affection and exposure to repeating bullying modeled behavior by parents. Victims may develop from experiences with trauma, fear, low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, social incompetence, conduct problems, suicide proneness, stress, anxiety, and mental health issues. When examining the development of a bully or a victim, interestingly both the bully and the victim generally have shared traits of lacking social problem-solving skills (Cook et al., 2010). The ability to identify someone that is likely to engage in interactions of either bullying or perpetual victimhood can be a proactive step for both organizations and schools. There are many assessments created to measure individuals as having bullied or victim tendencies. Could school districts or human resources apply these tools to proactively create a climate where bullying is easily addressed and possibly anticipated and managed before it occurs? To be clear, as a manager, we are not trying to delve into the private lives of the employees. We are not trying to psychoanalyze the employees. We are simply trying to understand their needs, as they are willing to present them. We are seeking to support their needs, not to change their lives or intrude but with the intent of supporting each employee in optimizing their experience within your organization. Understanding and addressing employees’ needs can optimize work groups, and understanding and addressing employee needs is one way to minimize incidents of workplace bullying. Literature is supporting an awareness of environments that foster bullying and victimhood, awareness of long-term consequences of bullying environments, and © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_11

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assessments to measure these individual characteristics and tendencies. This information creates a valuable foundation for understanding bullying. In addition to this foundation, it is important to create a culture that espouses values of love, worthiness, and seeking meaning through self-actualization, in conjunction with rejecting the concepts of individual superiority and inferiority. When a society views each other with love and worthiness and ascribes meaning based in individual self-­ actualization, people can experience a life where their physiological needs and need for safety, belonging, and esteem are accessible, and if these needs are accessible, many will choose to self-actualize and love rather than bully or live in fear.

Reference Cook, C., Williams, K. R., Guerra, N. G., Kim, T., & Sadek, S. (2010). Predictors of bullying and victimization in childhood and adolescence: A meta-analytic investigation. School Psychology Quarterly, 25, 65–83. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020149

Chapter 12

Case Studies for Application

Case Studies for Application Practice Case Study 1 Two female, Sam and Avery, work together in a research department of a large national organization. Sam was the director, and Avery was the only employee. The pair worked very effectively for 3 years. After 3 years, the department had grown sufficiently that a third female colleague, Mikayla, could be hired. Initially, all three colleagues worked well together. In fact, they described each other as best friends. However, over time, Sam and Mikayla began having more out of work activities together. Their children were the same age and their children had similar after school activities. While this is certainly fine, Avery began to realize that Sam and Mikayla had many inside jokes and that they were going to lunch together without her. During the work lunches, Sam and Mikayla were planning work projects and work goals. When Sam and Mikayla would return from lunch, sometimes Avery was informed that the two would be working on a new project together and Avery would not be part of the development. Sometimes, Avery only found out later from other colleagues that Sam and Mikayla were developing new projects. Avery tried to join the two for lunch and tried to invite the two to after-work activities, which both Sam and Mikayla always declined. Avery comes to you, her organizational leader and asks for help. 1. What is your assessment of this scenario? Is it workplace bullying? 2. How would you begin addressing this issue? 3. Would you apply Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Sullivan, or Horney to support Avery? To support Sam or Mikayla?

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7_12

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Case Study 2 Four employees work together in a law firm; the four employees, Mike, John, Erin, and Jennifer, are all legal support staff. All four generally get along. Mike and Erin support the lawyers in completing paperwork, while John and Jennifer conduct research for the lawyers. All four have access to a great deal of client information and confidentiality of client information is a priority and requirement of the job. Any breach in confidentiality will result in immediate termination. One day, Erin walks by John’s desk and John is laughing. Erin says, “What’s up?” To which John says Erin one of the clients’ names that when you say the first and last name together, it could have a funny meaning. Erin is surprised. First, the team is not to pull client information unless it is needed to perform a task. Second, she views this joke as childish and rude. She is not sure what to do so she ignores the comment and returns to her desk. However, this is not the last time John makes these types of jokes. In fact, it becomes a daily occurrence that John will pull names and adjust names to create jokes. He continually shows Erin, and Erin always says nothing. Additionally, Erin is pretty sure that John is showing Mike the name jokes too. One Monday morning, a client calls because they have received a mailer from the law firm where their first and last name have been combined and the combination clearly makes a joke of their name. The head lawyer of the firm is furious and asks if anyone knows anything about this. Erin comes to you, the human resources manager, and she shares all that she knows. 1. What is your assessment of this scenario? Is it workplace bullying? 2. How would you begin addressing this issue? 3. Would you apply Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Sullivan, or Horney to support Avery? To support Sam or Mikayla?

Case Study 3 There are ten employees working together on the product development line for a global food company. In general, each workday is productive, and each employee understands their work roles. But there is one employee Tracy, who occasionally comes to work late, and when she falls behind on her work tasks, she begins yelling at co-workers that no one helps her. In fact, she yells very loud, and most of the time, her co-workers simply help her catch up on her daily tasks because her outbursts are unsettling. Finally, after 6 months of this pattern, Sean, one of the 10 team members reports Tracy’s behavior to the departmental supervisor Glen. Glen listens to Sean, writes down all the information, and thanks Sean for sharing the information. But Tracy’s behavior continues. As far as Sean can tell, nothing is done to address Tracy’s tardiness, yelling, and imposing work on her colleagues. So, Sean asks his other eight co-workers if they are concerned about Tracy’s behavior, and

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the eight colleagues unanimously state nothing can be done, we should leave it alone. But Sean thinks the situation is getting worse. In fact, Tacy comes to work late at least once a week now, so Sean comes to you, the human resources manager. 1. What is your assessment of this scenario? Is it workplace bullying? 2. How would you begin addressing this issue? 3. Would you apply Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Sullivan, or Horney to support Avery? To support Sam or Mikayla?

Case Study 4 After joining the administrative team at a hospital, Peter is thrilled to be included in a departmental party celebrating the attainment of recent workplace goals. Shortly after arriving at the party, Jenny calls Peter over and to a group of several colleagues. The colleagues are watching a video on Jenny’s phone. Everyone is laughing, and the video contained inappropriate adult content. Peter was shocked. He did not laugh, and he was shocked that everyone else seemed to find the video humorous. Jenny must have noticed Peter’s face, and she pulled her phone away. She quickly said, “Oh Peter is no fun. We should not share anything with Peter.” Everyone laughed and the group separated. Peter did not report the incident as he was new, and he wanted to work well with his colleagues. However, when Peter arrived at work the next morning, Jenny walked by his office and said, “Peter is no fun. He is no fun at all,” and kept walking. Later in the afternoon, Sarah and Peter were working on a project, and they laughed at a mistake together. Sarah had been in the group of colleagues watching the video, and Sarah turned to Peter and said, “Wait a minute. Are you laughing? I thought you were no fun.” Then she laughed and walked away. Peter realizes that he may have been in a negative workspace, and he comes to your office, his manager, to speak about these events. 1. What is your assessment of this scenario? Is it workplace bullying? 2. How would you begin addressing this issue? 3. Would you apply Adler, Maslow, McClelland, Sullivan, or Horney to support Avery? To support Sam or Mikayla?

Index

A The Achievement Motivation Theory, 45 Anti-social traits, 25, 71 Anxiety, 5, 6, 22, 23, 51–54, 59, 63, 67, 71 B Bullying, 2, 3, 12, 17, 31, 38, 45, 52, 59, 67, 71, 73 C Case studies, 14, 73–75 Communications, 3, 24, 39–41, 47, 48, 53, 54, 56, 61, 62, 67 Conflicts, 1, 2, 20, 26, 54, 60, 64, 68, 69 Culture of silence, 6, 7 E Empathy, 25, 71 Employee needs, 38–41, 53, 61, 67, 69, 71 F Family size, 52, 54 G Geographic location, 52

H Hierarchy of needs, 37–40, 42, 43 Humanistic psychology, 37 I Incivilities, 14, 17, 47, 50, 67, 69 Interpersonal theory, 51–53 M Managers, 1, 2, 7, 14, 18, 23, 32–35, 38–42, 46, 47, 50, 52–54, 56, 60–62, 64, 67, 69, 71, 74, 75 N Needs-based theories, 2, 8 Negative actions, 59 O Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 11–13 P Perpetrators, 4, 5, 17, 19–21 Positive actions, 59 Positive work environments, 14, 47, 48, 50, 53, 62, 67

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. W. Yarbrough, Acknowledging, Supporting and Empowering Workplace Bullying Victims, SpringerBriefs in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41030-7

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Proactive, 1, 2, 6, 40, 62, 69, 71 Psychological safety, 72

T Theory of Neurotic Needs, 60

R Reactive, 69

V Victims, 1–5, 8, 13, 17–24, 26, 32, 35, 37, 38, 45, 46, 52, 60, 67, 69, 71

S Self esteem, 4, 20–23, 25, 31, 32, 35, 37, 38, 42, 45–47, 51, 59, 67, 71 Strategies, 2, 12, 32, 39, 53, 59, 60, 64, 65, 67, 69

W Workplace bullies, 1, 2, 5, 67 Workplace bullying, 1–8, 11–15, 17–19, 23, 24, 26, 33, 35, 38–40, 42, 46, 47, 52, 54, 61, 67–69, 71, 73–75 Workplace bullying policies, 2, 13–15, 69 Workplace bullying procedures, 11–15