Other Facets of Workplace Abuse: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Previous research has identified a variety of forms of workplace abuse (e.g., bullying and ostracism) and various forms of workplace incivility, including exploitation. To explore other forms of workplace abuse, 354 participants from various occupations were surveyed by using a questionnaire developed by the authors (Beyond Bullying Questionnaire [BBQ]). When compared with the Negative Acts Questionnaire–Revised (NAQ-R; Einarsen, Hoel, & Notelears, 2009), the BBQ revealed nearly equal percentages (64.86% and 64.95%, respectively) of participants endorsing one or more items on both measures, suggesting a likelihood that those who experience bullying may also be subjected to other forms of workplace abuse. Significant correlations were found between the full scale or composite scores of the NAQ-R and the BBQ; however, the subscales were not strongly correlated, suggesting that these scales measure distinct aspects of workplace abuse. However, multiple regression analysis revealed that the Person-Related Bullying subscale of the NAQ-R, the Exploitation subscale of the BBQ, participant’s age, and overall number of stressors were found to be significant predictors of the Global Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory, suggesting that the other forms of workplace abuse caused both stress and psychological distress for workers who experienced these behaviors. Overall, being subjected to bullying behaviors resulted in higher levels of psychological distress, as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory; higher levels of traumatic symptoms, as measured by the Impact of Events Scale–Revised; and higher levels of stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale, when compared with other forms of workplace abuse.