Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T19:09:45.400Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Workplace Mobbing and Effects on Workers' Health

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Mariano Meseguer de Pedro*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
María Isabel Soler Sánchez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
María Concepción Sáez Navarro
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
Mariano García Izquierdo
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Mariano Meseguer de Pedro, Universidad de Murcia, Facultad de Psicología, Campus Universitario de Espinardo. Edificio Luis Vives, 30100 Espinardo, Murcia (Spain). Phone: 968.36.76.97. Fax: 968.36.41.15. E-mail: marianom@um.es

Abstract

In this work, we analyze various consequences of the phenomenon of mobbing on the health of a work sector with special characteristics: the agro fruit sector. For this purpose, we collected data from a sample of 396 workers (61 men and 331 women) belonging to this sector in the Region of Murcia (Spain). A questionnaire with the following measurement instruments was administered: a Spanish adaptation of the revised Negative Acts Questionnaire (Sáez, García, & Llor, 2003), the Psychosomatic Problems Questionnaire (Hock, 1988), and a measure of absenteeism. The results revealed a significant and positive relation between workplace mobbing and psychosomatic symptoms, but not with absenteeism. The implications of the results for future research are discussed.

En el presente trabajo analizamos distintas consecuencias del fenómeno del mobbing en el trabajo en un sector con características especiales como es el hortofrutícola. Para ello recogemos los datos de una muestra de 396 trabajadores (61 hombres y 331 mujeres) pertenecientes a este sector en la Región de Murcia. Se administró un cuestionario con los siguientes instrumentos de medida: NAQ-RE (Sáez, García y Llor, 2003), CPP (Hock, 1988) y una medida de absentismo. Los resultados indican la existencia de una relación significativa y positiva entre mobbing en el trabajo y síntomas psicosomáticos, pero no con el absentismo. Se discuten las implicaciones que para la investigación futura tienen los resultados obtenidos.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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

Brodsky, C.M. (1976). The harassed worker. Toronto: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erbaum.Google Scholar
Consejo Económico y Social de la Región de Murcia (2003). Condiciones de trabajo en el sector agroalimentario de la Región de Murcia. Murcia, Spain: CESGoogle Scholar
Di Martino, V., Hoel, H., & Cooper, C.L. (2003). Preventing violence and harassment in the workplace. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.Google Scholar
Dupré, K.E., & Barling, J. (2003). Workplace aggression. In Sagie, A., Koslowsky, M., & Stashervsky, S. (Eds.), Misbehaviour and dysfunctional attitudes in organisations. New York: Palgrave MacmillanGoogle Scholar
Einarsen, S. (1999). The nature and causes of bullying at work, International Journal of Manpower, 20, 1627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einarsen, S. (2000). Harassment and bullying at work: A review of the Scandinavian approach. Aggression and violent behavior, 5, 379401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einarsen, S., & Hoel, H. (2001, May). The Negative Acts Questionnaire: Development, validation and revision of a measure of bullying at work. 10th European Congress on Work and Organisational Psychology. Prague.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S., Matthisen, S., & Skogstad, A. (1998). Bullying, burnout and well-being among assistant nurses. Journal of Occupational Health & Safety, 14, 563568.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S., & Raknes, B.I. (1991). Mobbing i Arbeidslivet. En Undersolkelse av forchomst og helsemessige konseckvenser av mobbing i pä norske arbeidsplasser. FAHS, Bergen: Universitetet i Bergen.Google Scholar
Einarsen, S., & Raknes, B.I. (1997). Harassment at work and victimization of men. Violence and Victims, 12, 247263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Einarsen, S., Raknes, B.I., & Matthiesen, S.M. (1994). Bullying and harassment at work and their relations to work environment quality. An exploratory study. The European Work and Organizational Psychology, 4, 381401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einarsen, S., Raknes, B.I., Matthiesen, S.B., & Hellesoy, O.H. (1996). Helsemessige aspekter ved mobbing i arbeidslivet. Modererende effekter av sosial sttotte og personlighet. Nordisk Psykologi, 48, 116137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gandolfo, R. (1995). MMPI-2 profiles of worker's compensation claimants who present with claimant of harassment. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 711715.3.0.CO;2-R>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
García-Izquierdo, M., Castellón, M., Albadalejo, B., & GarcíaIzquierdo, A. (1993). Relaciones entre el burnout, ambigüedad de rol y satisfacción laboral en el personal de la Banca. Revista de Psicología el Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 11, 1726.Google Scholar
Hock, R.R. (1988). Professional burnout among public school teachers. Public Personnel Management, 17, 167189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoel, H., Einarsen, S., & Cooper, C.L. (2003). Organisational effects of bullying. In Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C.L (Eds.), Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace: International perspectives in research and practice. London: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Hoel, H., & Cooper, C.L. (2000). Destructive conflict and bullying at work. Unpublished report: University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology. Available upon request from the author at http://Helge.Hoel@umist.ac.uk.Google Scholar
Hoel, H., Rayner, CH., & Cooper, C.L. (1999). Workplace bullying. In Cooper, C.L. & Robertson, I.T. (Eds.), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (pp. 195230). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Kaukiainen, A., Salmivalli, C., Björkqvist, K., Österman, K., Lahtinen, A., Kostamo, A., & Lagerspetz, K. (2001). Overt and covert aggression in work setting in relation to the subjective well-being of employees. Aggressive Behavior, 27, 360371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keashly, L., & Harvey, S. (2006). Emotional abuse at work. In Kelloway, E.K., Barling, J.,, & Hurrell, J. (Eds.), Handbook of workplace violence (pp. 95120). California: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kivimäki, M., Elovainio, M., & Vahtera, J. (2000). Workplace bullying and sickness absence in hospital staff. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 57, 656660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leymann, H. (1990). Mobbing and psychological terror at workplaces. Violence and Victims, 5, 119126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leymann, H. (1996). The content and development of bullying at work. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 5, 165184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leymann, H., & Gustafsson, A. (1996). Mobbing and the development of PTSD. European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology, 5, 251275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Llor, B., García-Izquierdo, M., Campillo, M.J., Ruiz, J.A., & Luna, A. (2004, April). Características de personalidad y mobbing. Oral communication presented at the XII National Congress of Legal Psychiatry. Málaga, Spain.Google Scholar
Matthiesen, S.B., & Einarsen, S. (2001). MMPI-2 configurations among victims of bullying at work. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 10, 467484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthiesen, S.B., Raknes, B.I., & Rökkum, O. (1989). Mobbing pa arbeidsplassen. Tidsskriftfor Norsk Psykologforening, 26, 761774.Google Scholar
Meseguer, M. (2005). El acoso psicológico en el trabajo (mobbing) y su relación con los factores de riesgo psicosocial en una empresa hortofrutícola. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Universidad de Murcia. Available upon request from the author at http://marianom@um.es.Google Scholar
Mikkelsen, E.G., & Einarsen, S. (2001). Bullying in Danish work-life: Prevalence and health correlates. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 10, 393413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mikkelsen, E.G., & Einarsen, S. (2002). Relationships between exposure to bullying at work and psychological and psychosomatic health complaints: The role of state negative affectivity and generalized self-efficacy. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 43, 397405.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales. MTAS (2004). V Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Trabajo. Madrid: A. Almodóvar (Coord.).Google Scholar
Paoli, P., & Merllié, D. (2001). Third European survey on working conditions in the European Union (2000). European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Luxemburg: Office for the Official Publications of the European Communities.Google Scholar
Piñuel, I. (2001). Estudio Barómetro Cisneros II. Madrid: Universidad de Alcalá de Henares.Google Scholar
Quine, L. (2001). Workplace bullying in nurses. Journal of Health Psychology, 6, 7384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sáez, M.C., García-Izquierdo, M., & LLor, B. (2003). Validación de la escala NAQ de Einarsen y Raknes (1997) sobre acoso psicológico en el trabajo (mobbing). Communication presented at the VIII National Congress of Social Psychology, in the Symposium of Mobbing: una perspectiva psicosocial. Torremolinos, Málaga (Spain).Google Scholar
Toohey, J. (1991). Occupational stress: Managing a metaphor. Sydney: Macquarie University.Google Scholar
UNISON (1997). UNISON members' experience of bullying at work. London: UNISON.Google Scholar
Vartia, M. (1996). The sources of bullying: Psychological work environment and organizational climate. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5, 203214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vartia, M. (2001). Consequences of workplace bullying with respect to the well-being of its targets and the observers of bullying. Scand Work Environ Health, 21, 6369.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vartia, M. (2003). Workplace bullying; A study on the work environment, well-being and health. People and Work Research Reports 56. Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.Google Scholar
Wilson, B.C. (1991). U.S. Businesses suffer form workplace trauma. Personnel Journal, July, 4750.Google Scholar
Zapf, D. (1999). Organisational, work group related and personal causes of mobbing / bullying at work. International Journal of Manpower, 20, 7085.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zapf, D., Knorz, C., & Kulla, M. (1996). On the relationship between mobbing factors, and job content, social work environment, and health outcomes. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 5, 215237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar