EXPOSURE TO WORKPLACE BULLYING AND SUICIDAL IDEATION: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

There is evidence of the effects of exposure to workplace bullying on victims who may manifest symptoms of depression, anxiety, burnout, somatization, sleep difficulties, and posttraumatic stress; however, few studies have examined the impact of workplace bullying on suicidal ideation. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between exposure to workplace bullying and suicidal ideation and how feelings of defeat and entrapment mediate this relationship. Also, it was intended to examine how rumination moderates this relationship. As a framework, it was used the Integrated Motivational-Volitional Model of Suicide Behavior (IMV) in which has been integrated several theoretical models of suicide. A total of 898 employed subjects participated in this cross-sectional design study. To examine the hypotheses, PLS-SEM model was used using the SMART-PLS program. Exposure to workplace bullying,defeat and entrapment were positively and significantly related to suicidal ideation. Meanwhile,feelings of defeat and entrapment mediated the relationship between exposure to workplace bullying and suicidal ideation and rumination moderated the relation between exposure to workplace bullying and feelings defeat. The results of the present study have both theoretical and practical implications, among which we can mention that results support and expand the IMV model of suicidal behavior. The exposure to workplace bullying brings a challenge for the psychologists in the occupational health context, and human resources practitioners in the management of this phenomenon in organizations to prevent it and in a worst case scenario, to respond in an effective manner due to its individual and organizational impact.