Beware of Non-Supportive Leaders : Moderating Effects of Supportive Leadership on the Risks and Effects of Workplace Bullying

Abstract

The aim of the present thesis is to investigate how supportive leadership affects workplace bullying-both in terms of risk factors that may lead to bullying but also in terms of the effects of workplace bullying. There is a need for more studies that investigate the mechanisms involved with the origins and effects of workplace bullying. The present thesis addresses that need.The thesis includes three survey studies based on different Swedish cohorts and using different research design in terms of the number of data collection waves and timeframes.Based on the well-known association between workplace bullying and poor health-and drawing on the social learning theory, the theory of social information processing, the social identity theory, and the self-categorisation theory-a circular and multilevel theoretical interaction model was created. It is presented together with six hypotheses, as well as with an open research question, that were all investigated. The hypotheses are as follows: