PapersFlow Research Brief
Workplace Violence and Bullying
Research Guide
What is Workplace Violence and Bullying?
Workplace violence and bullying refers to the prevalence, psychological terrorizing, incivility spirals, and organizational factors contributing to harassment, mobbing, and aggressive behaviors in professional environments, particularly affecting healthcare workers' mental health and job satisfaction.
This field encompasses 40,671 papers examining workplace bullying, harassment, violence, and their impacts on psychological health, organizational commitment, and well-being, with a focus on nursing and healthcare settings. Leymann (1996) defined mobbing as harassing or ganging up on someone at work, a phenomenon systematically researched since the early 1980s in 'The content and development of mobbing at work'. Andersson and Pearson (1999) demonstrated in 'Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace' how minor incivilities can escalate into aggressive behaviors through reciprocal responses.
Topic Hierarchy
Research Sub-Topics
Workplace Mobbing
This sub-topic examines the content, development, and dynamics of mobbing as a form of group-based workplace bullying. Researchers study its progression from initial conflicts to sustained harassment and its distinct organizational patterns.
Workplace Incivility Spirals
This sub-topic investigates the tit-for-tat escalation of low-intensity deviant behaviors like rudeness in workplaces. Researchers analyze how instigated incivility leads to reciprocal actions and broader negative outcomes.
Psychological Contract Violation
This sub-topic explores how perceived betrayals of employee-employer implicit agreements contribute to bullying and aggression. Researchers model the development and downstream effects on commitment and retaliation.
Workplace Bullying in Nursing
This sub-topic focuses on prevalence, impacts, and contributing factors of bullying among healthcare workers, especially nurses. Researchers assess effects on mental health, job satisfaction, and patient care quality.
Organizational Climate and Bullying
This sub-topic studies how organizational culture and climate foster or inhibit workplace violence and bullying. Researchers examine influences of norms, support, and justice perceptions on aggression.
Why It Matters
Workplace violence and bullying undermine employee mental health, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, leading to retaliation and turnover in sectors like healthcare. Leymann (1996) outlined in 'The content and development of mobbing at work' how repeated psychological terrorizing erodes well-being, contributing to broader organizational dysfunction. Skarlicki and Folger (1997) showed in 'Retaliation in the workplace: The roles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice' that perceived injustices in a sample of 240 manufacturing employees predict adverse reactions against employers. Morrison and Robinson (1997) modeled in 'WHEN EMPLOYEES FEEL BETRAYED: A MODEL OF HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT VIOLATION DEVELOPS' how betrayal from unmet obligations fosters anger, impacting retention; for instance, Rhoades et al. (2001) found perceived organizational support mediates links between work experiences and affective commitment in 367 employees across organizations.
Reading Guide
Where to Start
'The content and development of mobbing at work' by Leymann (1996), as it provides the foundational definition and historical context of mobbing central to understanding workplace bullying.
Key Papers Explained
Leymann (1996) 'The content and development of mobbing at work' establishes mobbing as psychological terrorizing, which Andersson and Pearson (1999) 'Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace' builds on by modeling incivility escalation into aggression. Morrison and Robinson (1997) 'WHEN EMPLOYEES FEEL BETRAYED: A MODEL OF HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT VIOLATION DEVELOPS' connects betrayal to these dynamics, while Skarlicki and Folger (1997) 'Retaliation in the workplace: The roles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice' examines justice's role in retaliation; Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) 'Commitment in the workplace: toward a general model' integrates commitment as a counterfactor.
Paper Timeline
Most-cited paper highlighted in red. Papers ordered chronologically.
Advanced Directions
Research centers on organizational climate's influence, as in Schneider et al. (2016) 'Organizational Climate and Culture', and commitment models like Meyer et al. (1993) 'Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization'. No recent preprints or news available, so frontiers remain in testing spirals and justice interventions empirically.
Papers at a Glance
| # | Paper | Year | Venue | Citations | Open Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The measurement of organizational commitment | 1979 | Journal of Vocational ... | 8.6K | ✕ |
| 2 | Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and tes... | 1993 | Journal of Applied Psy... | 5.8K | ✕ |
| 3 | Commitment in the workplace: toward a general model | 2001 | Human Resource Managem... | 3.4K | ✕ |
| 4 | Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. | 1998 | — | 2.6K | ✕ |
| 5 | Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace | 1999 | Academy of Management ... | 2.4K | ✕ |
| 6 | WHEN EMPLOYEES FEEL BETRAYED: A MODEL OF HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL CON... | 1997 | Academy of Management ... | 2.4K | ✕ |
| 7 | Affective commitment to the organization: The contribution of ... | 2001 | Journal of Applied Psy... | 2.3K | ✕ |
| 8 | The content and development of mobbing at work | 1996 | European Journal of Wo... | 2.2K | ✕ |
| 9 | Retaliation in the workplace: The roles of distributive, proce... | 1997 | Journal of Applied Psy... | 2.1K | ✕ |
| 10 | Organizational Climate and Culture | 2016 | The SAGE Encyclopedia ... | 2.1K | ✕ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is mobbing in the workplace?
Mobbing means harassing, ganging up on someone, or psychologically terrorizing others at work. Leymann (1996) introduced this concept in 'The content and development of mobbing at work', noting it as an old phenomenon systematically researched since the early 1980s. It involves repeated negative acts targeting an individual.
How does workplace incivility escalate?
Workplace incivility can spiral into increasingly intense aggressive behaviors through reciprocal responses at key points. Andersson and Pearson (1999) explained this mechanism in 'Tit for Tat? The Spiraling Effect of Incivility in the Workplace'. The process starts with low-intensity rudeness and escalates via retaliation.
What role does organizational justice play in retaliation?
Distributive, procedural, and interactional justice perceptions predict employee retaliation against perceived unfairness. Skarlicki and Folger (1997) investigated this in 'Retaliation in the workplace: The roles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice' using 240 manufacturing employees. Lower justice ratings correlate with adverse organizational reactions.
How does psychological contract violation develop?
Psychological contract violation arises when employees feel their organization failed reciprocal obligations, leading to anger and betrayal. Morrison and Robinson (1997) modeled this in 'WHEN EMPLOYEES FEEL BETRAYED: A MODEL OF HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT VIOLATION DEVELOPS'. It stems from unmet beliefs about employer duties.
What is the relationship between organizational support and commitment?
Perceived organizational support mediates associations between work experiences and affective commitment, reducing turnover. Rhoades et al. (2001) demonstrated this in 'Affective commitment to the organization: The contribution of perceived organizational support' across three studies with 367 diverse employees. Positive support enhances commitment.
How is organizational commitment measured?
Organizational commitment is measured through instruments assessing affective, continuance, and normative components. Mowday et al. (1979) developed such a measure in 'The measurement of organizational commitment', cited 8633 times. Meyer et al. (1993) extended it to occupations in 'Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization'.
Open Research Questions
- ? How do early-stage incivility spirals transition into sustained mobbing behaviors in healthcare settings?
- ? What specific organizational climate factors amplify psychological contract violations leading to workplace violence?
- ? In what ways do interactional justice perceptions moderate retaliation risks among nursing staff?
- ? How do three-component commitment models predict resilience against bullying in high-stress professions?
- ? What mechanisms link perceived organizational support deficits to escalated aggression in professional environments?
Recent Trends
The field holds steady at 40,671 papers with no specified 5-year growth rate.
Highly cited works like Mowday et al. 'The measurement of organizational commitment' (8633 citations) and Meyer et al. (1993) 'Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a three-component conceptualization' (5836 citations) continue dominating, reflecting sustained focus on commitment and justice links to bullying.
1979No recent preprints or news reported.
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