Workplace mobbing: How the victim's coping behavior influences bystander responses

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Workplace Behavior

Background:

• Workplace mobbing is a significant issue with victims exhibiting varied coping mechanisms.
• Understanding bystander reactions is crucial for addressing workplace bullying dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how victim coping strategies influence bystander cognitions, emotions, and helping intentions.
• To integrate coping literature with attribution theory in the context of workplace mobbing.
• To investigate the moderating effects of victim and bystander gender.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 161 adult part-time university students was conducted.
• A 3 (Coping: approach/avoidance/neutral) × 2 (Gender Victim: male/female) × 2 (Gender Bystander: male/female) between-subjects design was employed.
• Participants' perceptions of victim self-reliance, responsibility, anger, sympathy, and helping intentions were measured.

Main Results:

• Victims using approach coping were perceived as more self-reliant and less responsible for mobbing continuation, eliciting less bystander anger.
• Self-reliance and continuation responsibility mediated the link between coping behavior and helping intentions.
• Female bystanders reported more sympathy and willingness to help; female victims elicited less anger.

Conclusions:

• Victim coping strategies significantly impact bystander perceptions and helping behaviors in workplace mobbing.
• Attributional processes related to self-reliance and responsibility are key mediators.
• Gender plays a role in bystander empathy and reactions to victims.