Preventing and Addressing Negative Behaviors in the Workplace

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue addresses the prevention and addressing of negative behaviors in the workplace. In the current professional environment, workplace dynamics involve a multidimensional interplay of individual personalities, interpersonal relationships and organizational structures. Regrettably, within this context, intentional or not, a wide range of troubling and widespread negative behaviors often exist, adversely impacting the well-being of individuals and organizations. These behaviors can have significant financial impacts on organizations (and society) and cause detrimental well-being outcomes for employees. These behaviors include theft, engaging in non-work-related online activities such as shopping or entertainment, causing damage to company property, wasting organizational resources, engaging in voluntary absenteeism (such as arriving late, leaving early, or being absent without a valid reason) and engaging in presenteeism (working at a reduced capacity or a slow pace). Additionally, incivility, aggression, workplace bullying, cyberbullying and sexual harassment can harm fellow employees. The detrimental effects of alcohol and drug misuse on people extend to the overall performance of organizations.

The COVID-19 epidemic has had a significant impact on work environments. Certain sectors have experienced varying degrees of impact, notably the many technology, finance, professional services (including consulting, legal, and accounting), education, media, marketing and advertising companies shifting to a permanent remote or hybrid work practice incorporating flexible working arrangements. Employers were required to accommodate autonomy, minimize micromanagement, embrace flexibility and advocate employee well-being. However, these changes may have also presented a difficulty in effectively addressing and intervening in negative behaviors. As a result of the shift toward remote employment, organizations may now have increased challenges in identifying negative behaviors or securing corroborating evidence from bystanders, as the reduced physical cohabitation limits opportunities for observation and support.

Therefore, this Special Issue seeks to explore the evolving strategies for preventing, detecting and intervening in negative acts, drawing upon evidence-based approaches and theoretical models. All types of original research articles (quantitative, qualitative or mixed method), systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and interventions (i.e., primary, secondary and tertiary) in preventing and addressing all types of negative behaviors, especially from the perspective of the perpetrators of the acts, are welcome. We invite contributions from all disciplines, from academics and practitioners that possess a robust methodological foundation and can advance the field in terms of interventions to achieve a workplace environment characterized by compassion, empathy and inclusivity.

Potential authors are kindly asked to send titles and abstracts to Gülüm Özer ([email protected]).

Dr. Gülüm Özer
Prof. Dr. Elfi Baillien
Prof. Dr. Jordi Escartín
Guest Editors

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• negative acts
• perpetrators
• intervention
• prevention
• counterproductive workplace behavior
• incivility
• aggression
• workplace bullying
• cyberbullying
• alcohol and drug misuse

Title: An integrative framework of co-workers’ reactions to interpersonal workplace mistreatment
Authors: Caroline Bastiaensen; Elfi Baillien; Lieven Brebels
Affiliation: Work and Organization Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium
Abstract: Interpersonal workplace mistreatment (IWM) is a flourishing research domain which, during the last decades, has increasingly looked at co-workers’ responses to witnessing such acts (Reich et al., 2021). Co-workers can de-escalate the mistreating process which attracted scientific interest in exploring co-worker interventions that help to halt mistreatment in the workplace. Despite the growth of studies on this matter, we claim that there are two main hindrances that challenge us in creating sufficient leverage to truly understand co-workers’ responses to IWM and, thus, reach effective interventions. First, studies on this matter are scattered across different literature streams (e.g., rudeness, bullying, physical aggression…) with limited cross-fertilization. As there is no evidence that co-workers so clearly distinguish between these types as researchers do, the fragmentation obstructs the thorough and cohesive progression of knowledge. Despite the differences in how IWM types are conceptualised, for the purpose of our contribution, we focus on how co-workers make decisions within their work context rather than on how they may react differently to different types of IWM. Second, empirical studies have mostly delved into isolated components (i.e., variables of interest) within a co-worker's decision-making processes in the context of mistreatment, often neglecting the broader picture. Consequently, the field predominantly centers on behavioral reactions and their impact on the mistreatment situation, while overlooking the co-worker's perspective within the larger framework leading to the manifestation of their behaviour. Due to the fragmentation, both within research silos as within the understanding of co-worker’s decision-making processes, there is a need for integration. To realise this, we conduct a review study that integrates the known elements affecting co-workers’ behavioural responses using the broad IWM literature as input. We thereby want to contribute to the development of more programmatic theory across these research streams (Cronin et al., 2021). The literature will be screened on empirical evidence concerning personal and contextual factors that influence co-workers’ decision making processes regarding their responses when witnessing IWM. More importantly, this review will also go more in depth regarding the process of decision making. Knowing not only what influences decisions, but also how these decisions are made is essential to develop interventions that can alter these decisions: if we want to change co-workers’ behavioural responses to witnessing IWM, we first need to know how and why these decisions are made (Weber, Ames, & Blais, 2004). We will thus identify the various components in the decision-making process that have been found by earlier research, and apply a decision-making lens to shed light on the bigger picture in an integrative framework. This framework will show the complexity of co-worker’s decision-making and may guide further research to increase insight in the decision-making processes of co-workers regarding their initial behavioural response when witnessing IWM, creating a solid base for the development of co-worker intervention programs.

Title: Imbalance between employees and the organizational context: A catalyst for workplace bullying victimization and perpetration
Authors: Gülüm Özer; Jordi Escartín
Affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London SE5 8AF, UK; Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona,08035 Barcelona, Spain
Abstract: This study, guided by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and the Three Way model of Workplace Bullying, aims to explore the effects of perceived (im)balances in task or employee focus, social atmosphere (positive or negative), and hierarchical structure (high or low) in organizations on the incidence of workplace bullying, both in terms of perpetration (WBP) and victimization (WBV). The research involved 1044 employees from multiple Spanish organizations and sectors: 51.7% in services, 24.6% in education, 14.5% in wholesale and retail trade, and 9.2% in manufacturing. The average age of participants was 35.43 years (SD = 10.9), with a female majority of 61.3%. Using a cross-sectional study design, the experiences of bullying perpetration and victimization were quantitatively assessed through validated perpetration and victimization scales. Additionally, the study qualitatively examined employees' perceptions of their organizational context through free descriptions, using adjectives to depict their views. Multiple Correspondence Analysis and regression analysis were employed to test the hypotheses, and the results affirmed them. The study found that perceived imbalances in organizational focus, social atmosphere, and hierarchy correlate with higher levels of bullying perpetration and victimization. This research underscores the significance of balanced organizational contexts in mitigating workplace bullying. It highlights a gap in the current literature regarding the broader organizational factors that influence bullying and advocates for a more in-depth understanding of these dynamics. Furthermore, it contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering a comprehensive and harmonized approach for preventing workplace bullying, transcending isolated interventions. Keywords: Workplace bullying victimisation, workplace bullying perpetration, Job Demands-Resources Model, Three Way Model, Multiple Correspondence Analysis, quantitative and qualitative analysis