Thesis (Ph.D. Commerce (Human Resource Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Workplace bullying is a complex and widespread phenomenon, which has become a challenge to understand as an organisational phenomenon because of its complexity and numerous labels and terms that are used interchangeably by researchers, media and the public, when describing the behaviour. The potential for bullying in the workplace is always present in situations where people continually interact. Currently, workplace bullying has become a phenomenon that has caused significant problems when ignored. This study endeavoured to explore workplace bullying from African indigenous perspective with no predominantly continuation of the work from Western countries and develop strategies and model of managing workplace bullying from an African perspective. This empirical study was conducted in Limpopo province and grounded theory was used as methodological strategy with twenty-one indigenous research participants selected through the use of snowball sampling. Furthermore, the constructivist worldview formed the basis of the study on workplace bullying accounts, which was generated through semi-structured interviews with the support of interview guide. Interviews were recorded using call phone recorder, transcribed, coded and analysed using Microsoft Excel and interpreted. Thus, six key themes emerged from this study to address shared themes from individual accounts of workplace bullying incidents, causes and consequences from indigenous, contextualised perspective. The findings of the study identified nine accounts of bullying behaviour. These are disrespect, rumours or bad-mouthing, name calling, threats, unfair treatment, yelling to cause public humiliation, infringement of rights, work overload and domineering. Furthermore, contracts of employment and demonstration of power was identified as causes and dynamics of bullying behaviour. The findings also showed that workplace bullying accounts resulted in high turnover rate, compromised employee well-being and performance. Most participants managed workplace bullying by “doing nothing”. The data also showed that age and gender play a significant role in the African contexts, taking into consideration shared cultural believes and customs. The study further provided a practical model for managing workplace bullying from an African perspective. Furthermore, the study proposes a need for workplace bullying legislation to further increase the severity of bullying behaviour. The study also highlights a need to incorporate indigenous knowledge when managing workplace bullying. Keywords: Workplace bullying; Indigenous knowledge; Western knowledge; Consequences; Conceptual framework; Culture

Horizontal workplace aggression is a workplace stressor that can have serious negative outcomes for employees and organizations. In the current study, hierarchical regression analyses were used to investigate the hypotheses that horizontal workplace aggression has a relationship with turnover intentions, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. Coworker social support was investigated as a potential moderator in these relationships. Surveys measuring these constructs were administered to a group of 156 direct-care workers (specifically, certified nursing assistants, or CNAs) in a long-term assisted living facility corporation in the Northwestern United States. Results indicated that horizontal workplace aggression had a significant and positive relationship with work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, and turnover intentions, and that coworker social support significantly moderated the relationship between horizontal workplace aggression and work-to-family conflict, though not in the hypothesized direction. No other hypothesized moderations were significant. Potential explanations, practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to test a multi-level mediation model of incivility. Specifically, it was proposed that predictors of workplace incivility at the individual, group, and organizational level would be related to each other and negative individual outcomes. It was also proposed that the relationship between these predictors and outcomes would be mediated by workplace incivility victimization. Two hundred twenty eight participants completed an online survey through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Results indicated that variables at all three levels (i.e., civility climate, group norms for civility, and individual characteristics) were related to one another and predictive of negative individual outcomes. Results also indicated preliminary support for the mediating role of workplace incivility experiences in these relationships and the overall model. Workplace incivility significantly moderated all of the relationships between predictor and criterion variables. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed, and several directions for future research on workplace incivility are explored.

El trabajo de investigación surge en el año 2001, ante la necesidad de hacer frente a una nueva realidad jurídica, el mobbing. Para ello fue decisivo el estudio de lo publicado (básicamente de ramas ajenas al Derecho) pero sobre todo las entrevistas con las víctimas de mobbing y sus asociaciones; este extremo, unido a la ausencia de un tratamiento internacional, obligó a un camino autodidacta para definir mobbing jurídicamente.La Tesis define mobbing como la presión laboral tendente a la autoeliminación de un trabajador mediante su denigración (presión laboral tendenciosa), y con ello por primera vez se tiene una definición de mobbing en línea y media, con plena validez jurídica, que es susceptible de ser memorizada y por lo tanto divulgada, para corregir el problema. El denominado "concepto uniformado de mobbing" recalca la denigración como mecanismo frente a los tratos degradantes y recalca la autoeliminación como finalidad de un comportamiento doloso.El trabajo aporta fórmulas para deslindar casos de mobbing de otras figuras próximas, y en este sentido debe citarse "la regla del 9" para saber si hay mobbing; en sede de estadísticas se critican metodológicamente muchas de ellas presentadas hasta el momento y se aporta alguna en sede de Tribunales; pero sobre todo se advierte de los riesgos jurídicos de una previsible regulación específica antimobbing, mediante el examen de las distintas definiciones que se han esgrimido hasta el momento.La segunda parte de la Tesis profundiza sobre el grado de sensibilización de nuestro ordenamiento jurídico y Tribunales, a cuyo fin se ha trabajado con más de un centernar y medio de sentencias dictadas sobre la materia, y por supuesto la totalidad de las recogidas en las bases de datos de las editoriales. El análisis sirve para apreciar la bondad de la sistemática aquí defendida, poniendo en evidencia errores, y contradicciones.La Tesis advierte que la presión laboral tendenciosa más allá de vulnerar el derecho constitucional al trabajo, o los derechos fundamentales a la integridad moral y el honor, es una transgresión a todo un "espíritu constitucional", y en este sentido se analiza con detalle tanto la posibilidad de recurrir en amparo, como el derecho a la indemnidad para quien se enfrenta a esta situación.Advirtiendo de las ventajas de efectuar esta reacción mediante la modalidad procesal de tutela de los derechos fundamentales, se analiza la recurrida acción del art.50 ET, donde se realizan aportaciones sugerentes como el plazo prescripción o la "doctrina de los antecedentes", y se otorgan respuestas a las preguntas sobre obligación de seguir trabajando y ejecución provisional.En sede de acciones de Seguridad Social, la Tesis distingue entre la incapacidad temporal y permanente (depresiones) y la muerte y supervivencia, aportándose sobre la primera la técnica denominada "interpretación en tres niveles" y descartando la posibilidad de considerar accidente de trabajo el suicidio tras un mobbing por imperativo legal, pero aportando un sucedáneo bastante razonable como es el accidente no laboral. Junto a ello se razona por la viabilidad del recargo del art.123 LGSS.Civilmente, la Tesis se posiciona de "lege ferenda" por reconducir este tipo de acciones resarcitorias del daño psíquico y moral al orden civil, por una mayor explicación sobre el origen del quantum, pero sobre todo considera inadmisible la STS 11-3-04, y ello por una pluralidad de argumentos, pero sobre todo por cuanto viene a autorizar "de facto" este tipo de conductas.La posibilidad de accionar administrativamente frente a este riesgo psicosocial se analiza en un doble terreno, la empresa y la Administración. Si bien el cauce sobre el primero tiene algunos meandros que se desbelan, la situación es radicalmente frustrante en la Administración -donde se encuentra el mayor caldo de cultivo del mobbing- , y ello por el RD 707/2002, pero todavía en mayor medida por el Criterio Técnico 34/2003 mediante el cual la interpretación del Director General de la Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social ha venido tácitamente a derogar parcialmente la Ley de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales para la Administración.En materia penal, la Tesis se decanta "a priori" por dos tipos penales, los delitos contra los derechos de los trabajadores, y el delito de trato degradante; sin embargo, en la práctica sólo este segundo es el camino que puede alcanzar buen puerto.Finalmente se realiza un estudio detallado de la Ley 62/2003, ley que se divulgó como reguladora del acoso moral, y que después se defiende como un avance frente al mobbing. La Tesis advierte que no es cierto ni lo uno, ni lo otro, habiendo creado un "espejismo legal" que puede perjudicar a las víctimas de mobbing, además de no servir su estructura para una futura regulación explícita antimobbing. / The subject for research appeared in 2001, due to the need to face up to a new juridical reality, mobbing. The study of published material was decisive (basically from areas unrelated to law) but above all from interviews with victims of mobbing and mobbing associations; this situation together with an absence of a systematic international study, made it obligatory to teach oneself to provide mobbing with a juridical definition.This thesis defines mobbing as work environment pressure tending towards the self elimination of a worker through his or her denigration (tendentious work pressure). For the first time we have a definition of mobbing in a line and a half, with juridical validity, which can be memorised and therefore divulged, to correct the problem. The denominated "uniform mobbing concept" underlines the denigration as a mechanism against degrading treatment and underlines self elimination as the result of intentional acts.This study provides formulas to differentiate cases of mobbing from other similar situations. In this sense the "golden rule" must be cited to know if mobbing exists; from a statistical viewpoint many of those presented up to now are criticised methodologically and some have been provided in the tribunals, but above all a warning is given with regard to the juridical risks of a foreseeable specific anti-mobbing legislation, through the examination of the different definitions which have been put forward up to now.The second part of the thesis goes into depth over the amount of awareness of our laws and precedents and tribunals, to which end over 150 sentences on the subject have been studied, and of course all of those included in the publishers data bases. The analysis is used to form an appreciation of the adequacy of the system being defended, highlighting errors and contradictions.The thesis warns that tendentious work pressure, more than violating constitutional rights at work, or the fundamental rights to moral integrity or honour, is a transgression of a "constitutional spirit", and in this sense an analysis is made of both the possibility of making an application for the defence of basic constitutional rights, as well as a the right to indemnity for whoever confronts this situation.Signalling the advantages of carrying out this reaction of the safeguarding of the fundamental rights through the modality of legal process, the recurred action of "art. 50 ET", (Estatuto del Trabajador - Workers' Statute) is analysed, where attractive contributions such as time limits or the "doctrine of the antecedents" are made, and questions are provided with answers about the obligation to continue working and provisional proceedings.With regard to actions within the scope of the Social Security, the thesis distinguishes between temporary disability and permanent disability (depression) and death and survival, contributing to the first with the technique called "three level interpretation" and rejection of the possibility of considering suicide after mobbing as a professional accident by legal imperative, but providing a very reasonable substitute such as non professional accident. Together with this there is argument for the viability of the penalty of "art. 123 LGSS" (Ley General de la Seguridad Social - General Social Security Law).In terms of Civil Law, the thesis takes up the position of "de lege ferenda", to steer these types of compensatory actions for moral and psychological damages toward the civil order, for a greater explanation of the origin of the quantum, but above all considering inadmissible the "STS" (Sentencia del Tribunal Superior) 11-3-04 for a variety of arguments, but above all when authorising "de facto" these types of conducts.The possibility of taking administrative action against this psychosocial risk is analysed from a double viewpoint, the company and the administration. Whilst the legal river has some whirlpools which can be seen, the situation is radically frustrating in the case of the administration, where the greatest hotbed of mobbing exists, and this being because of "RD" (Real Decreto - Royal Decree) 707/2002, but even to a greater extent because of the "Criterio Técnico" (Technical Criterium) 34/2003 through which the Director General of Inspection of Work and Social Security has tacitly partially abolished the Law of Prevention of Professional Risks for the Administration.In terms of Criminal Law, the Thesis leans towards two criminal typologies, the offences against the rights of workers, and the offence of degrading treatment; however, in practice only the second option is the way to success.Finally a detailed study is made on Law 62/2003, a law which was issued as regulating moral harassment, and which later is defended as an advance against mobbing. The thesis advises that neither are true, having created a "legal mirage" which can negatively effect victims of mobbing, as well as not serving as a structure for a future explicit anti-mobbing regulation.

Does our status impact the way we interpret change? This study proposes that one's level of power within their workplace, as granted by their role within the organization, shapes the way in which people interpret adjustments to the norms of that organization. Drawing on qualitative focus groups with forty-four members of Oregon's construction trades, this study examines the relationship between participants' position within the industry's structure and their opinions about the changing job site norms brought on by recent waves of diversification in the workforce. Findings suggest that within Oregon's construction trades, hierarchical distribution of power via industry position serves to stratify and reorganize the attitudes and responses of participants. This is done through situating knowledge; different positions hold differential understandings of which issues generate harassment, present barriers to progress, and serve as potential solutions to the issue. Results show that participants who occupy positions of power within the trades tend to frame harassment as an interpersonal problem, which can be solved by interpersonal solutions. Thus, participants in positions of power saw change as an incremental process that was constantly happening. Conversely, participants who were not in positions of power within the trades tended to frame harassment as an institutional problem that required industry-wide changes to be fully addressed. As a result, participants with less power in the trades framed change as generational for the industry; something that could only be achieved after the current workforce. Ultimately, this study highlights the tension between interpersonal and institutional strategies for organizational change.

A study is made of the ever-growing worldwide social pandemic of workplace bullying. We define workplace bullying in terms of its characteristics and distinguish it from unfair discrimination in the form of harassment. A survey is presented of its occurrence worldwide and how it manifests as an organisational conflict, both as hierarchical and horizontal abuse. This is analysed in terms of a social science perspective. We consider grievance reporting as an indication of trends in workplace bullying and discuss the limitations of such reporting. We review the consequent effects of such limitations on the health of workers and workplace efficiency and note the shortcomings of existing labour law in dealing with this inadequacy. Our findings are summarised, with recommendations for resolving this conflict situation.

Previous research on workplace bullying primarily focuses on two main actors – the bully and the victim – while neglecting a third actor: the bystander of the bullying. The prevalence of workplace bullying is increasing across organizations, resulting in more employees becoming subjected to the effects of workplace bullying. Furthermore, witnessing coworker-on-coworker bullying is likely to influence the relationships that the bystander has with the two coworkers involved in the bullying episode. Two areas are proposed to investigate their effect on the coworker bystander: coworker interpersonal justice and personal identification with coworkers. Coworker interpersonal justice involves the perceived fairness between coworkers, while personal identification refers to how these bystanders identify with the specific actors of the bullying event. In addition to work-related outcomes, bystanders are affected at a personal level. That is, being exposed to bullying situations causes these bystanders to alter their anxiety levels and their core affect, with core affect being a precursor to moods and emotions. In addition to the aforementioned outcomes of witnessing a coworker bullying incident, there are also contextual aspects which may influence these relationships. Personal-level factors, such as a bystander's empathy and sense of coherence (i.e., coping mechanisms), may influence the effect of witnessing a coworker being bullied. Similarly, the gender of the victim in relation to the gender of the bystander may also play a role. Using affective events theory, I investigate how witnessing coworker bullying in the workplace effects bystanders. This research employs a 2 x 2 experimental design with multi-wave data collection and an in-person lab session to test the proposed hypotheses. AET is operationalized by creating a fictional coworker bullying situation in which observers are either exposed to the bullying situation or not. This research offers several contributions to the management literature as well as to practitioners. First, it extends current workplace bullying literature to incorporate the effect of peer-on-peer bullying, as well as investigating the influence of bystander and victim gender. The second contribution is the creation and testing of scales for coworker interpersonal justice, personal identification with coworkers, and observation of coworker bullying. The third contribution involves developing a more thorough understanding of the outcomes of coworker bullying on bystanders by employing an experimental approach. Fruitful areas of future research regarding coworker bullying, coworker interpersonal justice, and personal identification are discussed.

During times of organisational change and restructuring, employees, are often placed in acting positions. Consciously, organisations frame their reasons for this practice as preparing the system for a new strategy, organisational structure, work distribution and leadership challenges. This implies that the conscious reasons for using acting as a human resources practice may not be sound, leading to a question about the possibility of unconscious collusions operating in the system. From an unconscious perspective, it can be hypothesised that this practice represents how organisations respond to its unprocessed unconscious anxieties inherent to change, transformation and adapting to new ways of thinking, operating and functioning. This research was done using systems psychodynamics as theoretical paradigm and theory, offering a depth-psychology organisational theory, OD consultancy and qualitative research stance which differentiate between conscious and unconscious. The unconscious contains anxiety against which the system defends, specifically, by using dependence, fight/flight, pairing, me-ness and we-ness. Role identity consists of the normative, existential and phenomenal roles. If the three role parts are similar, anxiety is contained and bearable. When there are splits between the three role parts, persecutory and paranoid anxiety exists. The acting professionals’ normative role was relatively clear. In their existential role they introjected confusion, uncertainty, splits about their competence, doubt in their own authority, shame, and conflict in their view of the other. In their phenomenal role they received projections from the organisation about incompetence and denigration. The findings indicated how acting professionals experienced different kinds and intensities of anxiety. They got confused about their primary task, and the differences between their normative, existential and phenomenal roles caused high levels of performance anxiety. They struggled to manage their personal and work boundaries and the system de-authorised them by withholding information and feedback about their contribution to the organisation and their acting tenure. Acting professionals experienced being seduced by the power of the organisation, their careers being placed on hold, and being bullied by the systemic illness and toxicity in the organisational. It was concluded that the organisational system unconsciously uses acting positions as a psychodynamic container of organisational change anxiety. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / Ph.D. (Consulting Psychology)

The research focused on constructing a psychological wellbeing profile for employee wellness and talent retention practices by investigating employees’ psychological wellbeing-related attributes (constituting self-esteem, emotional intelligence, hardiness, work engagement and psychosocial flourishing), and whether these significantly mediate the relation between their experiences of bullying and their intention to leave the organisation when controlling for bullying, age, gender, race, tenure and job level. A quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample of employed adults (N = 373) of different age, gender, race, tenure and job level groups from various South African organisations. The canonical statistical procedures indicated work engagement (vigour, dedication and absorption) and hardiness (commitment-alienation) as the strongest psychological wellbeing-related dispositional attributes in the workplace bullying and turnover intention relationship. The mediation modelling results showed that workplace bullying significantly predicted turnover intention, which in turn, significantly predicted either high/low levels of work engagement (vigour and dedication) in one’s work. Self-esteem, emotional intelligence or hardiness did not seem likely to influence the relationship between workplace bullying and turnover intention. The multiple regression analysis indicated that participants’ biographical variables (age, gender, race and job level) significantly predicted workplace bullying, self-esteem, emotional intelligence, hardiness, work engagement and psychosocial flourishing, and turnover intention. The tests for significant mean differences indicated that participants from various biographical groups (age, gender, race, tenure and job level) statistically significantly differed regarding workplace bullying (independent variable), the psychological wellbeing-related variables, namely self-esteem, emotional intelligence, hardiness, employee engagement, psychosocial flourishing (mediating variables) and turnover intention (dependent variable). On a theoretical level, the study deepened understanding of the cognitive, affective and conative behavioural dimensions of the hypothesised psychological wellbeing profile. On an empirical level, the main findings were reported and interpreted in terms of an empirically derived psychological wellbeing profile based on the work engagement of the participants. On a practical level, the findings provided valuable guidelines for the development of talent retention and wellness interventions, which might add to the body of knowledge relating to psychological wellbeing-related dispositional attributes that influenced workplace bullying and talent retention / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

During times of organisational change and restructuring, employees, are often placed in acting positions. Consciously, organisations frame their reasons for this practice as preparing the system for a new strategy, organisational structure, work distribution and leadership challenges. This implies that the conscious reasons for using acting as a human resources practice may not be sound, leading to a question about the possibility of unconscious collusions operating in the system. From an unconscious perspective, it can be hypothesised that this practice represents how organisations respond to its unprocessed unconscious anxieties inherent to change, transformation and adapting to new ways of thinking, operating and functioning. This research was done using systems psychodynamics as theoretical paradigm and theory, offering a depth-psychology organisational theory, OD consultancy and qualitative research stance which differentiate between conscious and unconscious. The unconscious contains anxiety against which the system defends, specifically, by using dependence, fight/flight, pairing, me-ness and we-ness. Role identity consists of the normative, existential and phenomenal roles. If the three role parts are similar, anxiety is contained and bearable. When there are splits between the three role parts, persecutory and paranoid anxiety exists. The acting professionals’ normative role was relatively clear. In their existential role they introjected confusion, uncertainty, splits about their competence, doubt in their own authority, shame, and conflict in their view of the other. In their phenomenal role they received projections from the organisation about incompetence and denigration. The findings indicated how acting professionals experienced different kinds and intensities of anxiety. They got confused about their primary task, and the differences between their normative, existential and phenomenal roles caused high levels of performance anxiety. They struggled to manage their personal and work boundaries and the system de-authorised them by withholding information and feedback about their contribution to the organisation and their acting tenure. Acting professionals experienced being seduced by the power of the organisation, their careers being placed on hold, and being bullied by the systemic illness and toxicity in the organisational. It was concluded that the organisational system unconsciously uses acting positions as a psychodynamic container of organisational change anxiety. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / Ph.D. (Consulting Psychology)