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Updated: Dec 17, 2025

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test
Published on: November 19, 2015
Descriptive study of workplace demand, control and bullying among migrant and Australian-born workers by gender: does
Alison Reid1, Alison Daly2, Anthony D LaMontagne3
1School of Public Health, Curtin University Bentley Campus, Perth, Western Australia, Australia alison.reid@curtin.edu.au.
Objective:
The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between bullying in migrants and Australians and types of workplace Iso-strain, by gender.
Design And Setting:
Two descriptive cross-sectional surveys of the Australian working population.
Participants:
Australian-born workers of Caucasian ancestry (n=1051, participant response rate=87.3%) and workers born in New Zealand (n=566), India (n=633) and the Philippines (n=431) (participant response rate=79.5%).
Primary And Secondary Outcomes Measures:
Using logistic regression, we examined whether self-reported assessment of various forms of bullying in the workplace was associated with Iso-strain (job with high demands and low control and without social support), gender and migrant status.
Results:
The prevalence of workplace bullying within the previous year was 14.5%. Sexual harassment, though rare (n=47, 1.8%), was reported by more women than men (83% vs 17%, χ2=19.3, p<0.0001) and more Australia or New Zealand born workers compared to India or the Philippines workers (75.5% vs 25.5%, χ2=4.6, p=0.032). Indian-born women had lower adjusted OR for being bullied and for being intimidated compared to other women. Independent of migrant status, Iso-strain (1), (low support from boss) and Iso-strain (2), (low support from colleagues) predicted being bullied. Women were more likely to be in an Iso-strain (1) job than men (18.7% vs 13.6%, p=0.013) and had twice the risk of being both verbally abused and intimidated compared to men (OR 9 vs OR 5.5, p<0.0001).
Conclusion:
Workplace bullying was more likely for women than men. There were few differences between workers from different migrant groups. Iso-strain was the strongest predictor of workplace bullying. Workplaces should encourage supportive and collegiate work environments.
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