Climate for conflict management exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement
a moderated mediation analysis
1. Introduction
Exposure to bullying in the workplace is not only associated with reduced health and well-being
among those targeted , it is also associated with individual and organizational level outcomes
related to performance and productivity, such as reduced creativity, increased absenteeism
rates, increased turnover rates and reduced work engagement. Because of this, employers have
an obvious interest in both preventing bullying from occurring and in reducing its potential
negative outcomes.
• Brodsky (1976) claimed that for harassment to take place the victimizing elements must
occur within a climate that permits or rewards this kind of (mis)behavior.
• In line with this, Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, and Cooper (2011) forwarded the hypothesis that
if employees perceive the organizational climate as being characterized by proper
procedures and policies to manage interpersonal problems, there will both be fewer
bullying episodes and a reduction of the potential outcomes of bullying, e.g. retaining
the work engagement of those targeted.
In this paper, we will investigate this hypothesis using the concept of Climate for Conflict
Management (CCM) which refers to the employees’ assessments of the organization’s conflict
management procedures, and of how fair and predictable the interaction patterns between
managers and employees are perceived to be in this regard (Rivlin, 2001). Employing a
moderated mediation analysis we will investigate if perceived CCM moderates the likely
relationship between exposure to bullying and reduced work engagement.
The nature of workplace bullying. Bullying can be viewed as a particularly serious form of
interpersonal conflict at work (Zapf & Einarsen, 2005) where the targeted employee over a
prolonged time period is increasingly exposed to hostile social acts from peers or superiors
finding it difficult to defend oneself in the actual situation due to a power imbalance between
the parties.In this context, the term hostile social acts overlaps with the concepts of social
exclusion, incivility and abusive supervision.
Work engagement as a likely outcome of bullying. The concept of work engagement refers
to a condition in which the personal self and the work role are merged together. Employee
engagement positively affects employees, there factors that reduce the work engagement should
a moderated mediation analysis
1. Introduction
Exposure to bullying in the workplace is not only associated with reduced health and well-being
among those targeted , it is also associated with individual and organizational level outcomes
related to performance and productivity, such as reduced creativity, increased absenteeism
rates, increased turnover rates and reduced work engagement. Because of this, employers have
an obvious interest in both preventing bullying from occurring and in reducing its potential
negative outcomes.
• Brodsky (1976) claimed that for harassment to take place the victimizing elements must
occur within a climate that permits or rewards this kind of (mis)behavior.
• In line with this, Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, and Cooper (2011) forwarded the hypothesis that
if employees perceive the organizational climate as being characterized by proper
procedures and policies to manage interpersonal problems, there will both be fewer
bullying episodes and a reduction of the potential outcomes of bullying, e.g. retaining
the work engagement of those targeted.
In this paper, we will investigate this hypothesis using the concept of Climate for Conflict
Management (CCM) which refers to the employees’ assessments of the organization’s conflict
management procedures, and of how fair and predictable the interaction patterns between
managers and employees are perceived to be in this regard (Rivlin, 2001). Employing a
moderated mediation analysis we will investigate if perceived CCM moderates the likely
relationship between exposure to bullying and reduced work engagement.
The nature of workplace bullying. Bullying can be viewed as a particularly serious form of
interpersonal conflict at work (Zapf & Einarsen, 2005) where the targeted employee over a
prolonged time period is increasingly exposed to hostile social acts from peers or superiors
finding it difficult to defend oneself in the actual situation due to a power imbalance between
the parties.In this context, the term hostile social acts overlaps with the concepts of social
exclusion, incivility and abusive supervision.
Work engagement as a likely outcome of bullying. The concept of work engagement refers
to a condition in which the personal self and the work role are merged together. Employee
engagement positively affects employees, there factors that reduce the work engagement should
