Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:17:38.217Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Workplace bullying: Propositions from Heider’s balance theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2014

Peter Standen ,
Megan Paull  and
Maryam Omari
Peter Standen
Affiliation:
School of Business, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia
Megan Paull*
Affiliation:
School of Management and Governance, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
Maryam Omari
Affiliation:
School of Business, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia
*
Corresponding author: m.paull@murdoch.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Individuals who allege bullying bring their own version of events to any investigation, and regardless of the allegations made, there is always more than one account of what took place. Perception influences the interpretations placed on our actions and that of others, especially in terms of whether these constitute bullying in the context in which they are observed. Since investigators, and researchers, are heavily reliant on self-reports, it is important to understand how subjectivities affect individual interpretation and responses. Based on Heider’s Balance Theory, this conceptual article presents a series of propositions relating to subjective factors in perceiving an act as bullying. Research which explores these factors will facilitate better understanding of allegations of bullying. Potential implications for research, awareness raising, education and training, investigation and interpretation of allegations of workplace bullying are advanced.

Keywords

workplace bullyingbalance theoryperceptual and interpretative processes
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 20 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 733 - 748
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balducci, C., Fraccaroli, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2013). Workplace bullying and its relation with work characteristics, personality, and post-traumatic stress symptoms: An integrated model. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 24(5), 499–513.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartlett, J. E., & Bartlett, M. E. (2011). Workplace bullying: An integrative literature review. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 13, 69–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berthelsen, M., Skogstard, A., Lau, B., & Einarsen, S. (2011). Do they stay or do they go? A longitudinal study of working life among targets of workplace bullying. International Journal of Manpower, 32(2), 178–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (2011). Diagnosing and changing organizational culture based on the competing values framework (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.Google Scholar
Cowan, R. (2012). It’s complicated: Defining workplace bullying from the human resource professional’s perspective. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(3), 377–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crandall, C. S., Silvia, P. J., N’Gbala, A. N., Tsang, J.-A., & Dawson, K. (2010). Balance theory, unit relations and attribution: The underlying integrity of Heiderian theory. Review of General Psychology, 11(1), 12–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
D’Cruz, P., & Noronha, E. (2010). Protecting my interests: HRM and targets’ coping with workplace bullying. The Qualitative Report, 15(3), 507–534.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C. L. (2010). The concept of bullying and harassment at work: The European tradition. In S. Einarsen (Ed.), Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Developments in theory, research and practice (pp. 3–39). Hoboken, NJ: CRC Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferris, P. A. (2009). The role of the consulting psychologist in the prevention, detection and correction of bullying and mobbing in the workplace. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 61(3), 169–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
French, J. R. P., & Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright (Ed.), Studies in social power (pp. 150–167). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Frese, M., & Zapf, D. (1988). Methodological issues in the study of work stress: Objective versus subjective measurement of work stress and the question of longitudinal studies. In C. L. Cooper & R. Payne (Eds.), Causes, coping, and consequences of stress at work (pp. 375–411). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1961). Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interaction – Fun in games and role distance. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Harrington, S., Rayner, C., & Warren, S. (2012). ‘Too hot to handle?’ Trust and human resource practitioners’ implementation of anti-bullying policy. Human Resource Management Journal, 22(4), 392–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heider, F. (1946). Attitudes and cognitive organization. The Journal of Psychology, 21, 107–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York, NY: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heider, F., & Simmel, M. (1944). An experimental study of apparent behaviour. American Journal of Psychology, 57(2), 243–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hershcovis, M. S., Reich, T. C., Parker, S. K., & Bozeman, J. (2012). Work and stress: An international journal of work, health and organisations. Work, & Stress, 26(1), 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hummon, N. P. & Doreian, P. (2003). Some dynamics of social balance processes: bringing Heider back into balance theory. Social Networks, 25(1), 17–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keashly, L., & Neuman, J. H. (2010). Faculty experiences with bullying in higher education: Causes, consequences, and management. Administrative Theory, & Praxis, 32(1), 48–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Lutgen-Sandvik, P. (2006). Take this job and …: Quitting and other forms of resistance to workplace bullying. Communication Monographs, 73(4), 406–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutgen-Sandvik, P., & Tracy, S. J. (2012). Answering five key questions about workplace bullying: How communication scholarship provides thought leadership for transforming abuse at work. Management Communication Quarterly, 26(1), 3–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacIntosh, J. (2005). Experiences of workplace bullying in a rural area. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 26, 893–910.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malle, B. F. (2008). Fritz Heider’s legacy: Celebrated insights, many of them misunderstood. Social Psychology, 39(3), 163–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthiesen, S. B., & Einarsen, S. (2010). Bullying in the workplace: Definition, prevalence, antecedents and consequences. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 13(2), 202–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAvoy, B. R., & Murtagh, J. (2003). Workplace bullying: The silent epidemic. British Medical Journal, 326(7393), 776–777.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, H., & Rayner, C. (2012). The form and function of ‘bullying’ behaviors in a strong occupational culture: Bullying in a U.K. police service. Group and Organization Management, 37(3), 347–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishna, F. (2004). A qualitative study of bullying from multiple perspectives. Children and Schools, 26(4), 234–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Omari, M. (2007). Towards dignity and respect: An exploration of the nature, cause and consequences of workplace bullying. Saarbrucken: VDM Verlag Dr Muller.Google Scholar
Parzefall, M., & Salin, D. (2010). Perceptions of and reactions to workplace bullying: A social exchange perspective. Human Relations, 63, 761–780.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhodes, C., Pullen, A., Vickers, M. H., Clegg, S. R., & Pitsis, A. (2010). Violence and workplace bullying: What are organization’s ethical responsibilities? Administrative Theory, & Praxis, 32(1), 96–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samnani, A. (2013). The early stages of workplace bullying and how it becomes prolonged: The role of culture in predicting target responses. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(1), 119–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saunders, P., Huynh, A., & Goodman-Delahunty, J. (2007). Defining workplace bullying behaviour professional lay definitions of workplace bullying. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 30(4–5), 340–354.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sims, R. L., & Sun, P. (2012). Witnessing workplace bullying and the Chinese manufacturing employee. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27(1), 9–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thibaut, J. W., & Riecken, H. W. (1955). Some determinants and consequences of the perception of social causality. Journal of Personality, 24(1), 113–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vie, T. L., Glaso, L., & Einarsen, S. (2011). Health outcomes and self-labeling as a victim of workplace bullying. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 70, 37–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, K. Y., & O’Reilly, C. A. (1998). Demography and diversity in organizations: A review of 40 years of research. Research in Organizational Behavior, 20, 77–140.Google Scholar
Zapf, D., & Einarsen, S. (2010). Individual antecedents of bullying: Victims and perpetrators. In S. Einarsen (Ed.), Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Developments in theory, research and practice (pp. 177–200). Hoboken, NJ: CRC Press.Google Scholar