Individual effects of exposure to bullying at work

The nature, causes and consequences of bullying at work: The Norwegian experience

“…Consequences of bullying at work 20 When working with victims of long-term bullying, what strikes one the most is the intense and pervasive health problems they display. Looking at both our own research and the research of others in this field, a clear conclusion can be drawn from all the research findings : Exposure to systematic bullying at work causes a host of negative health effects in the target (see also Einarsen & Mikkelsen (2003) for a review). Although single acts of aggression and harassment do occur fairly often in everyday interaction, they seem to be associated with severe health problems when occurring on a regular basis (Einarsen & Raknes, 1997).…”

“…Down is shown an example of how a victim describes the magnitude of her health problems. This narrative illustrates how a victim feels that a questionnaire designed to measure psychological and psychosomatic problems following exposure to traumatic events may not sufficiently capture just how much her mental and physical health have been damaged by exposure to bullying (Einarsen et Mikkelsen, 2003).…”

Physiological Response as Biomarkers of Adverse Effects of the Psychosocial Work Environment

“…The early cross-sectional studies found correlations between exposure to bullying and chronic fatigue, psychosomatic, psychological and physical symptoms, general stress, insomnia, and mental stress reactions etc. (for reviews see e.g., (Dofradottir & Høgh, 2002;Einarsen & Mikkelsen, 2003;Moayed et al, 2006)). Common symptoms such as musculo-skeletal complaints, anxiety, irritability and depression were reported by targets in different European countries (Einarsen et al, 1996;Niedl, 1996;O'Moore et al, 1998;Zapf et al, 1996).…”

A proposed typology of the military bully

“…Research in the social sciences recurrently suggests it to be prevalent across various organisational sectors, 9 while disturbing findings about the negative psychological and physiological consequences accompanying the phenomenon for the victim, organisation and onlooker are also being reported. 10 In spite of the widespread attention bullying receives in diverse organisational settings, the military still remains one environment where dialogue into bullying is lacking. As recognised by Østvik and Rudmin, 11 "despite the expectation and the evidence that military units, like other organizations, have problems with bullying and hazing, there have been few, if any, systematic social science studies of this reported in the mainstream research literature".…”