Research on workplace aggression has been carried out either from the perspective of the victim or from the perspective of the perpetrator. Considered separately, however, these two approaches may yield only a partial picture of the aggression phenomenon at the workplace. Building upon the concept of an incivility spiral (Anderson & Pearson, 1999), the analysis reported in the present study tested a model of abusive behavior at work in which work-environmental factors (i.e. role stressors) and personal factors (i.e. workaholism) trigger abuse and being the target of bullying acts as a mediating process. The participants were 462 employees of the health sector in Italy. The results of structural equation modelling showed that role stressors and workaholism were independently related to abusive behavior, and that undergoing bullying acted as a mediating process. Furthermore, an interaction between role stressors and workaholism had added value in explaining the hypothesised path to abusive behaviour: at higher levels of workaholism the path leading from role stressors to abuse was significantly stronger.
Are role stressors and workaholism related to abusive behavior at work? The mediating role of workplace bullying
BALDUCCI, CRISTIAN;
2010
Abstract
Research on workplace aggression has been carried out either from the perspective of the victim or from the perspective of the perpetrator. Considered separately, however, these two approaches may yield only a partial picture of the aggression phenomenon at the workplace. Building upon the concept of an incivility spiral (Anderson & Pearson, 1999), the analysis reported in the present study tested a model of abusive behavior at work in which work-environmental factors (i.e. role stressors) and personal factors (i.e. workaholism) trigger abuse and being the target of bullying acts as a mediating process. The participants were 462 employees of the health sector in Italy. The results of structural equation modelling showed that role stressors and workaholism were independently related to abusive behavior, and that undergoing bullying acted as a mediating process. Furthermore, an interaction between role stressors and workaholism had added value in explaining the hypothesised path to abusive behaviour: at higher levels of workaholism the path leading from role stressors to abuse was significantly stronger.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
