This is the final paper I wrote for Industrial Organizational Psychology at Harvard Extension School.
Link to PDF, All Rights Reserved, 2019.
Abstract
A bully can destroy a victim’s core sense of self, and limit their ability to be productive, (Woodward, 2014). Awareness of incivility in the workplace is on the rise. With a growing focus in globalization and advances in technology, organizations are becoming more engaged in conversations around harassment, diversity and inclusion, change management, group dynamics and social intelligence. As an effect these movements have been empowering individuals once silent to come forward about such things as incivility in the workplace. This honesty has resulted in disheartening data. A 2017 survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute estimated that 61 percent of U.S. employees are aware of abusive conduct in the workplace, 19 percent have experienced it and another 19 percent have witnessed it, (Nagele-Piazza, 2018, March). Countless articles and books have been written about how bullying impacts the victim’s job satisfaction, job performance, and organizational citizenship. Topics also include how the behavior impacts a company’s bottom line, (Unknown Author, What is the Actual Cost of Workplace Negativity?, 2016) and how culture is negatively impacted, (Monych, 2018). What we are lacking still is data on how it happens to begin with.
This paper reviews what motivates someone to act in a way that she knows will harm another, and recommends research methods for collecting data on the probability of reciprocal versus funneled versus diffusive response behavior demonstrated by the victim after receiving an uncivil behavior from another for the purposes of predicting uncivil behavior, so that interventions can be administered proactively. We want measurable outcomes to illustrate that bully behavior produces bully behavior in the workplace. By understanding the bully’s motivators and probabilities of the victim’s response style to bullyish behavior, we may be able to lead change effectively.
Keywords: incivility in the workplace, bullying, mindfulness, organizational justice
Link to PDF, All Rights Reserved, 2019.