Workplace bullying of South African employees: Prevalence
and the relationship with sense of coherence and diversity
experiences
Leanri Cunniff, HonsBCom
Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Magister Commercii in Industrial Psychology at the
North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus)
Supervisor: Prof. K. Mostert
November 2011 Potchefstroom
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COMMENTS
The reader is reminded of the following:
The editorial style as well as the references referred to in this mini-dissertation follow the format prescribed by the Publication Manual (6th edition) of the American Psychological Association (APA). This practice is in line with the policy of the Programme in Industrial Psychology of the North-West University (Potchefstroom) to use APA style in all scientific documents as from January 1999.
The mini-dissertation is submitted in the form of a research article. The editorial style specified by the South African Journal of Industrial Psychology (which agrees largely with the APA style) is used, but the APA guidelines were followed in constructing tables.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the following people for their assistance in this research project:
All honour and thanks to my Father who has blessed me tremendously with the opportunity to finish my studies in Industrial Psychology. I could not have completed this project without His support and grace.
I wish to thank my husband Glenn, for his continued support and encouragement during my studies. You have been my rock through rough and challenging times and I can never thank you enough! I love you with all my heart.
To my supervisor, Prof Karina Mostert. Thank you so much for your guidance, assistance and expertise during the writing of this article. Your skills as a researcher will never cease to amaze me, and it has been a privilege working with you.
To the team at Afriforté: thank you for the opportunity to work with your data. Especially, Dr. Ina Rothmann, the passion with which you conduct your daily work and your devotion to wellness will continue to inspire me.
Ian Rothmann Jr: Thank you so much for taking the time from your busy schedule to assist me with countless statistical analyses, questions and interpretations of the data. Your help is much appreciated!
My heartfelt thanks to my family and friends who have put up with my countless years of studying. Your support and encouragement have been a light in a sometimes very dark tunnel.
I wish to thank my colleagues at M-Tech Industrial for their belief in me and allowing me to finish my studies.
My deepest thanks to all the staff and fellow students during my studies at the North-West University. From you I draw inspiration, encouragement and guidance and can never thank you enough for your input and influence you have contributed to my career.
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SOLEMN DECLARATION
I, Leanri Cunniff, declare herewith that the mini-dissertation entitled, Workplace bullying of South African employees: Prevalence and the relationship with sense of coherence and diversity experiences which I herewith submit to the North-West University as partial completion of the requirements set for the degree Magister Commercii in Industrial Psychology, is my own work, has been text edited and has not already been submitted to any other university.
I understand and accept that the copies that are submitted for examination are the property of the University.
Signature of student______________________
University-number__12767638______________
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Tables viii
Abstract ix Opsomming xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem statement 1 1.2 Research objectives 9 1.2.1 General objective 9 1.2.2 Specific objectives 9 1.3 Research method 10 1.3.1 Literature review 10 1.3.2 Research participants 10 1.3.3 Measuring instruments 11 1.3.4 Research procedure 12 1.3.5 Statistical analysis 12 1.3.6 Ethical considerations 13 1.4 Overview of chapters 13 1.5 Chapter summary 13 References 14
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH ARTICLE
Abstract 20
Introduction 21
Trends from the research literature 24
Theoretical framework guiding workplace bullying 24
Prevalence of workplace bullying 25
Manifestations of workplace bullying 25
Workplace bullying and socio-demographic characteristics 26
Workplace bullying and sense of coherence (SOC) 29
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TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTINUED
Research design 30 Research approach 30 Research method 30 Research participants 30 Measuring instruments 33 Statistical analysis 34 Results 35 Discussion 43 References 52
CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 Conclusions 62
3.2 Limitations of this research 67
3.3 Recommendations 68
3.3.1 Recommendations for the organisation 68
3.3.2 Recommendations for future research 69
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LIST OF TABLES
Table Description Page
Table 1 Characteristics of the participants (N = 13 991) 32
Table 2 Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and correlations of the SAEHWS
36
Table 3 Prevalence of workplace bullying 37
Table 4 MANOVA - Differences in bullying levels based on socio-demographic characteristics, SOC and diversity
38
Table 5 ANOVA - Differences in workplace bullying dimensions based on race 39
Table 6 ANOVA – Differences in workplace bullying based on gender 40 Table 7 ANOVA - Differences in workplace bullying based on age 40
Table 8 ANOVA – Differences in workplace bullying based on education 41 Table 9 ANOVA – Differences in workplace bullying based on industry 42
Table 10 ANOVA – Differences in workplace bullying based on sense of coherence 42 Table 11 ANOVA – Differences in workplace bullying based on diversity experience 43
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ABSTRACT
Title:
Workplace bullying of South Africa employees: Prevalence and the relationship with sense of coherence and diversity experiences
Key terms:
Direct bullying; indirect bullying; bullying by supervisors; bullying by colleagues; socio-demographic characteristics; sense of coherence; diversity experiences
Workplace bullying is creating negative physical and psychological effects on employees and has a serious impact on the organisations’ bottom line. Workplace bullying has been related to excessive absenteeism, high employee turnover and hostile work environments. However, no recent studies on the prevalence of workplace bullying in the South African context are available. This is important because of the multicultural, multiracial composition of the South African workforce, and socio-demographic factors such as race, gender, age, education level and type of industry should be investigated to determine if differences exist with regard to the experience of workplace bullying. The personality resource, sense of coherence, should add an important element to this study, as the results could offer an important indicator for managers to change the employee’s environment in order to render the stimuli to which they are exposed more understandable, significant and manageable. In South Africa, diversity, multiculturalism, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity are words in common currency in a newly democratic country. Literature suggests that if diversity within African organisations is positively experienced, it could enhance harmony and effectiveness within that organisation.
The objectives of this study were to 1) determine the relationship between workplace bullying, socio-demographic characteristics, sense of coherence and diversity experiences according to the literature; 2) to determine how frequently employees in South Africa experience acts of workplace bullying; 3) to determine if there are significant differences between socio-demographic groups (including race, gender, age, education and industry) with regards to workplace bullying; 4) to determine if there are significant differences between the different types of bullying (direct, indirect, supervisor and colleague bullying) with regards to sense of coherence; and 5) to determine if there are significant differences between the
x
different types of bullying (direct, indirect, supervisor and colleague bullying) with regard to diversity experiences. An availability sample (N = 13 911) was utilised to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in a sample of South African employees. Frequencies were used to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying for the total sample and MANOVA was used to determine differences between the groups.
The results indicated that workplace bullying is a prevalent problem in South Africa, as people experience frequent overall bullying (4% reported being often bullied; 31,1% reported being always bullied). On the socio-demographic characteristics, Blacks experienced a higher level of workplace bullying in comparison with the other race groups, and men and women experience statistically significant differences with regards to workplace bullying. It was evident that older employees experience statistically significantly lower levels of bullying, and a statistically significant difference between those employees with a secondary and tertiary education was found. It seems that the highest levels of direct bullying by supervisors occurred in the government industry, followed by the mining industry. Individuals with a higher SOC experienced lower levels of bullying compared to individuals with a lower SOC. Statistically significant differences were found on all bullying dimensions with regards to diversity experiences.
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OPSOMMING
Titel:
Werkplek afknouery van Suid-Afrikaanse werknemers: Voorkoms en die verhouding met sin vir koherensie en diversiteit ervaringe.
Sleutelterme:
Direkte afknouery; indirekte afknouery; afknouery deur supervisors; afknouery deur kollegas; sosio-demografiese kenmerke; sin vir koherensie; diversiteit ervaringe.
Werkplek afknouery het negatiewe fisiese en sielkundige gevolge op werknemers, en lei ook tot ‘n negatiewe impak op organisasies se finansiele statusse. Werkplek afknouery het gevolge soos oormatige afwesigheid, hoë personeel omset en ‘n vyandige werksomgewing. Daar is tans geen onlangse studies beskikbaar oor die voorkoms van werkplek afknouery binne die Suid-Afrikaanse werkskonteks nie. Navorsing op hierdie konstruk is belangrik omdat die multikulturele samestelling van die Suid-Afrikaanse werksmag en sosio-demografiese faktore soos ras, geslag, ouderdom, opvoedingsvlak en industrie ondersoek moet word om te bepaal of verskille met betrekking tot die ervaring van werksplek afknouery bestaan. Verder word die persoonlikheidstrek, sin vir koherensie, bygevoeg as ’n belangrike element tot die studie. Sin vir koherensie kan dien as ’n belangrike implikasie vir bestuurders om die werknemer se werksomgewing te verander sodat veranderinge en spanning waaraan hul blootgestel word ervaar kan word as verstaanbaar, betekenisvol en hanteerbaar. In Suid-Afrika word diversiteit, multi-kulturaliteit, regstellende aksie en gelyke indiensneming gesien as belangrike konstrukte in ’n nuwe demokrasie. Literatuur dui daarop dat indien diversiteit binne Afrika organisasies positief ervaar word, dit kan lei tot verhoogde harmonie en doeltreffendheid.
Die doelstellings van hierdie studie was om 1) die verhouding tussen werksplek afknouery, sosio-demografiese eienskappe, sin vir koherensie en diversiteits ervaringe volgens literatuur te bepaal; 2) om te bepaal hoe dikwels werknemers werksplek afknouery ervaar; 3) om te bepaal of daar beduidende verskille is tussen sosio-demografiese groepe (met betrekking tot ras, geslag, ouderdom, opvoeding en industrie) en die ervaring van werksplek afknouery; 4) om te bepaal of daar beduidende verskille is tussen verskille tipes afknouery (direkte,
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indirekte, supervisor en kollegiale afknouery) en sin vir koherensie; en 5) om te bepaal of daar beduidende verskille is tussen die verskillende tipes afknouery (direkte, indirekte, supervisor en kollegiale) en diversiteits ervaringe. ’n Beskikbaarheidsteekproef (N = 13 911) is gebruik om die voorkoms van werksplek afknouery in ‘n steekproef van Suid-Afrikaanse werknemers te bepaal. Frekwensies is gebruik om die voorkoms van werksplek afknouery te bepaal en MANOVAs is uitgevoer om die verskille tussen groepe te bepaal.
Hierdie studie het bevind dat werksplek afknouery voorkomend is onder werknemers in Suid-Afrika; 4% rapporteer dat hul dikwels afgeknou word en 31,1% rapporteer dat hul heeltyd afgeknou word. Met betrekking tot die sosio-demografiese eienskappe, ervaar Swart werknemers meer afknouery in vergelyking met ander rassegroepe en manne en vroue ervaar statisties beduidende verskille met betrekking tot werksplek afknouery. Ouer werknemers ervaar statisties betekenisvolle laer vlakke van afknouery, en daar is ook ‘n beduidende verskil tussen werknemers met ‘n sekondêre en tersiêre onderwysvlakke. Verder blyk dit dat afknouery meer plaasvind in die regering en mynbedryf. Werknemers met ‘n hoër sin vir koherensie het laer vlakke van afknouery ervaar as individue met ‘n laer sin vir koherensie. Statistiese betekenisvolle verskille is gevind met betrekking tot diversiteits ervaringe.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This mini-dissertation investigates the prevalence of workplace bullying in South Africa and will determine if differences exist in the experience of workplace bullying with regards to social-demographic characteristics (including race, gender, age, education and industry), sense of coherence (SOC) and diversity experiences. The study will focus on South African employees in different industries.
This chapter presents the problem statement and a discussion of the research objectives, where the general and specific objectives are set out. The research method is explained and an overview of chapters is provided.
1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT
When one mentions the term „bullying‟, a thought that comes to mind is the bully at school, terrorising and intimidating the outsider. Unfortunately, this behaviour can also occur in organisations, often with severe implications. Research has indicated that, just like school bullying, the victim of workplace bullying suffers extensively as the experience of being bullied breaks down the mental and physical health of its target (Hood, 2004). In an organisation, it could lead to ineffective teamwork as it hampers productivity and efficiency, and has therefore financial implications for the organisation.
Bullying affects individuals, organisations and economies all over the world. The consequences of workplace bullying can be of a physical nature, that is, sleep disturbances, stomach aches, headaches, eating disturbances and high blood pressure (Martin & Martin, 2010; Vessey, Demarco, Gaffney & Budin, 2009), while the psychological effects of workplace bullying include panic attacks, depression, irritability, anxiety, stress and lowered self-esteem (Cowie, Naylor, Rivers, Smith & Pereira, 2002; Vessy, et al., 2009). When bullying occurs within an organisation, the physical and psychological effects of bullying manifest in absenteeism, excessive sick leave and the intention to leave the company (Djurkovic, McCormack & Casimir, 2008; Moyaed, Daraiseh, Shell & Salem, 2005), which
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in turn has an indirect cost implication for the organisation. Bullying influences the commitment of employees to their jobs as well as their morale, which leads to costly productivity losses as these individuals are more likely to quit their jobs (People Management, 2006). Giga, Hoel and Lewis (2008) estimated that the total cost of bullying to the UK society in 2007 (which included figures of absenteeism, turnover and productivity losses) could be estimated to the amount of £13.75bn. An Australian employer could lose up to AU$16 977-00 per bullying case (Sheehan, McCarthy, Barker & Henderson, 2001).
When bullying was first identified by the psychologist Heinz Leymann in the 1980s, he labelled bullying as being „mobbed in the workplace‟ (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf & Cooper, 2003). Leymann (1996) later described bullying as conflict that lasts for a longer period of time; occurs frequently and where the victim is not able to defend him/herself because of the unequal distribution of power between the victim and the perpetrator. For the purpose of this study, bullying is defined as:
Those repeated actions and practices that are directed to one or more workers, which are all unwanted by the victim, which may be done deliberately or unconsciously, but clearly cause humiliation, offence, and distress, and that may interfere with job performance and/or cause an unpleasant working environment (Rothmann & Rothmann, 2006, p. 14).
Bullying manifests as a variety of behaviours. For this study, bullying will be divided into two categories: direct and indirect bullying. Direct bullying can be described as behaviour taking place on a face-to-face, interpersonal level, and includes acts of belittling remarks, humiliation, criticism, inaccurate accusations, threatening behaviour and intimidation (Engineering Management, 2005/6; Escartin, Rodriquez-Carballeira, Zapf, Porrúa & Martin-Peña, 2009; Johnson, 2009). Indirect bullying includes behaviour such as keeping someone out of the loop of things, not informing the target about decisions taken that directly influence his/her department or people, the perpetrators would (on purpose) sit as far away from the targeted individual as possible, manipulating information given to the victim, and/or neglecting working conditions of the victim (Escartin et al., 2009; Hood, 2004).
The question that needs to be answered is: who are more inclined to experience bullying? A useful framework that can be used to guide the understanding of bullying is Tajfel‟s Social Identity Theory (SIT) (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). This theory states that all individuals naturally
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strive for a positive self-image, and their social identity is enhanced by the process of categorising people into in-groups and out-groups. In order to achieve and maintain this positive self-image, it becomes necessary to compare the in-group with the out-group (Blacksacademy, 2005; Duffy, 2004). When the in-group is viewed as being more positively distinct from the out-group, a positive social identity is maintained. The quandary starts when the in-group is compared and viewed as being less favourable and the group members might choose to compete with the out-group in order to achieve a positive distinctiveness, resulting in in-group favouritism, group polarisation, minority influence, stereotyping and discrimination (Duffy, 2004). It is thus possible that prejudice and discrimination (manifesting as bully-like behaviour) derives from the desire of individuals to identify with the social groups considered to be superior to other groups in order to enhance their self-esteem and increase their shared identity (Haslam & Reicher, 2006). It is important to note that the term „group‟ does not necessarily only refer to ethnicity or racial-orientation, but could include men teaming up against women (or vice versa), older employees versus younger employees, or individuals with a higher qualification feeling superior to unskilled employees and thus engaging in bullying-behaviour.
Within an organisation, there are power structures giving order to the functionality of a company. When reporting about hierarchy levels within a company, it mainly refers to the top, senior, middle, and junior management levels, with the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers to follow (Department of Labour, 2010). The power position is what makes bullying different from „normal‟ conflict, as the victim is unable to successfully resolve the problem. This is why an onset of bullying could occur in organisational structures; the hierarchy which exists could make it easy for a lower level employee to be targeted by a more senior person (who possesses more „power‟ than the victim does). The victim is pushed into a helpless and defenceless position, implying a victim-perpetrator structure, thus explaining why a large number of victims are being bullied by their supervisors (Salin, 2003).
It is, however, not only supervisors who bully. In a study carried out by Ortega, Høgh, Pejtersen and Olsen (2009), is was found that co-workers comprised 71.5% of the perpetrators of bullying, with supervisors making up only 32.4% of the bullies. In an online survey conducted by OnePoll.com amongst 3 000 employees, it was revealed that the main culprits of workplace bullying are colleagues and not their superiors (Free Press Release,
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2010). Acts of humiliation, sarcasm, rudeness and gossiping have been reported as the type of bullying behaviour portrayed by colleagues (Farrell, Bobrowski & Bobrowski, 2006).
When bullying is researched internationally, specific focus is placed on the experience of bullying amongst the different groups within the workplace. The effects of racial/ethnic differences (Dinsdale, 2006; Fox & Stallworth, 2005; Lewis & Gunn, 2007) as well as the differences in gender and age have been studied (Cortina, Magley, Williams & Langhout, 2001; Crothers, Lipinski & Minutolo, 2009; Ólafsson & Jóhannsdóttir, 2004; Salin, 2003). Furthermore, researchers are acknowledging the differences in industries, for instance, comparing the effects and intensity of bullying in the public sector with those in the health sector (Jennifer, Cowie & Ananiadou, 2003; Niedhammer, David & Degioanni, 2007; Ortega et al., 2009). However, no information is available on how frequently bullying behaviour occurs in the South African workforce. For the purpose of this study, socio-demographic characteristics that will be examined with regard to the experience of workplace bullying will include race, gender, age, education and industry.
Race/ethnicity is most probably the most researched variable among the bullying phenomena. In England, non-white nurses have been found to be more than twice as likely to be bullied at work as white staff (Dinsdale, 2006). This seems to be also the case in America, where Fox and Stallworth (2005) found that the ethnic minority groups in the workplace reported higher levels of specific racial/ethnic bullying than their White counterparts did. It appears that if a person of ethnic minority works in an environment in which s/he is a member of the minority group, s/he might become an easy targes for bullying (Lewis & Gunn, 2007). This is confirmed by Archer (1999) who notes that if a person belongs to a minority group (either in terms of gender or race), the likelihood of bullying increases radically.
According to Statistics South Africa (2010), the population estimates for this country indicates that the Indian/Asian and Coloured race groups are in the minority, with Blacks being the predominant racial group. Hence, by means of the theoretical framework, it can be expected that the minority ethnic groups in South Africa could experience more bullying. All employees in the South African work context experience diversity every day in terms of not only racial/ethnic dimensions, but also when discrimination, prejudice, respect and socialisation across these groups are displayed based on these racial/ethnic dimensions (Rothmann & Rothmann, 2006). According to Pietersen (2007), individuals experienced
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discrimination based on their racial and gender-orientation (especially when the victim‟s orientation differed from that of his/her superior). However, there is a lack in current literature regarding the link between bullying and racial groups in South Africa, which will therefore be investigated in this study.
Gender differences have also received a great deal of international attention in research on bullying. In a French study, researchers have found that over a 12 month period, 11% of women reported being exposed to workplace bullying to the 9% of men (Niedhammer et al., 2007). The same was reported in an American study, where women experienced on average more workplace incivility than men did (Cortina, et al., 2001). In contrast, men in Iceland reported higher levels of victimisation in the workplace than women did (Ólafsson & Jóhannsdóttir, 2004), while Ortega and colleagues found no significant gender differences in bullying experiences under Danish workers (Ortega et al., 2009). In South Africa, there has been contradicting findings regarding gender-differences and bullying. Whilst Pietersen (2007) found no significant differences between males and females in this regard, Steinman (2003) reported that South African females (especially in the health sector) were mostly vulnerable to workplace bullying. However, further research is needed in order to determine if differences in gender are, in fact, present.
Internationally, it is agreed upon that the younger the employee, the higher the chance of encountering harassment and bullying (Einarsen & Rakness, 1997). This argument also draws on the power/status inequality which might instigate bullying, where low-status characteristics (like being a young new entrant in an organisation) could lead to more harassment-vulnerability (Cortina et al., 2001). However, Cortina et al. (2001) and Ortega et al. (2009) found that age does not necessarily link to workplace incivility. In a study conducted among Naval personnel in Norway, bullying was observed more among the younger age groups (i.e., 34 years and younger) (Magerøy, Lau, Riise & Moen, 2009). There is currently no significant literature in South Africa describing the influence of age on the effects of bullying. Usually, with age comes learning, therefore, the effects of education also needs to be studied.
Magerøy et al. (2009) found no significant difference in years of education amongst their participants in the Naval military, whilst Niedhammer and colleagues (2007) found that individuals in a lower academic position (i.e., clerk) experienced more frequent bullying than
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the managers did. A study carried out by Ortega et al. (2009) supports the finding of the previous study, where unskilled workers (in other words, those with no qualifications) reported significant differences in the prevalence of bullying than amongst their managers/supervisors (higher skill levels). Overall, there does not seem to be a large amount of literature aiming to link academic qualifications with the experience of bullying, but the existing literature indicates that a lower educational status might lead to more bullying experiences.
Bullying seems to affect all types of industries according to international research. Employees in sectors such as information technology, academic, the public sector, telecommunications, health sector, military, etcetera, (Escartin et al., 2009; Jennifer, Cowie & Ananiadou, 2003; Magerøy et al., 2009; Niedhammer et al., 2007; Steinman, 2003; Thomson, 2008), have all been found to be subjected to bullying. It appears that people in the service, public and health sectors are mostly subjected to bullying (Niedhammer et al., 2007; Ortega et al., 2009). In South Africa, bullying research has mainly been carried out in the health care sector and under academics; however, there has not been any study in which several sectors within the South African work context have been compared.
Some studies have also aimed at determining a victim-profile; however, this was mostly based on personality (Brousse et al., 2008; Glasø, Matthiesen, Nielsen and Einarsen, 2007). These studies found that emotional instability as a personality trait could contribute to the victim being more susceptible to bullying. Someone who is viewed as being more emotionally unstable tends to experience difficulty in handling stress situations and can become anxious and easily upset (Glasø et al.). So the question begs: If an individual possesses a personality trait or resource which enables him/her to effectively cope with external stimuli experienced during stressful situations, would they be able to better resist the effects of being bullied? This ability to cope with external stimuli is known as Sense of Coherence (SOC). The developer of this construct, Aaron Antonovsky, defined the term as:
A global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring, thought dynamic, feeling of confidence that one‟s internal and external environments are predictable and that there is a high probability that things will work out as well as can reasonably be expected (Antonovsky, 1979, p.132).
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SOC is all about an individual‟s orientation to the world, where the individual experiences a persistent, long-term sense of self-confidence that the external stimuli to which they are exposed are understandable, significant and with which s/he can be cope (Du Toit, 2002). For the purpose of this study, SOC is viewed as a resiliency-indicator which could have both direct and indirect effects on an individual‟s well-being, as it influences the individual‟s perception of his/her own coping-abilities (Rothmann & Rothmann, 2006). A SOC has been found to mediate stress (Albertsen, Nielsen & Borg, 2001; Diraz, Ortlepp & Greyling, 2003) which should be relevant to the effects of bullying as the experiences create stress for the victims exposed to bullying (Cowie et al., 2002; Vessy et al., 2009).
SOC should add an important element to this study, as the results could constitute an important indicator for managers to change the employee‟s environment in order to render the stimuli to which they are exposed more understandable, significant and manageable. SOC can also be viewed as a protective factor amongst victims of workplace bullying (Nielsen, 2008). Nielsen found that SOC possessed protective qualities against low levels of bullying, but as the bullying increased, the benefits of a strong SOC diminished. The relationship between SOC and workplace bullying has not yet been researched in South Africa and therefore this study will make a contribution to the current knowledge on bullying in South Africa.
In the South African and international business context, diversity is becoming a frequently discussed topic. This study will investigate whether members of diverse groups experience prejudice and misunderstanding in their interaction with one another; thus influencing the experience of workplace bullying. For instance, if members of different groups socialise across racial lines, and view diversity in a positive manner (Rothmann & Rothmann, 2006), the experience of workplace bullying should be reduced due to a more accepting/inclusive organisational culture with regards to diversity issues.
Literature indicates that the experience of workplace bullying (due to diversity issues in the workplace) could lead to potential conflict, resulting in employees “acting out” against each other (Spataro, 2002). The differences between employees (for instance gender, value, ethnicity, age differences, etc.) could cause problems during interpersonal communication and lead to stereotyping, thus triggering aggressive behaviour (Salin, 2003). This behaviour arises from employees trying to “fit in” with diverse groups, accentuating antisocial
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behaviour, which includes acts of bullying such as verbal abuse and possible violence (direct bullying) or acts of sabotage (indirect bullying) (Heames, Harvey & Treadway, 2006). When a supervisor perceives a member of his/her subordinates to be of higher „status‟, the possibility of the supervisor resorting to bullying behaviour in order to get rid of or sabotage this employee, becomes evident (Salin, 2003). Colleagues, especially those of a lower status in the workgroup, might start representing this behaviour, as theorised by the Social Learning Theory, especially if the behaviour is perceived as rewarding (Bandura, 1973). Colleagues could start to exhibit the same bullying behaviour as the supervisor in order to restore perceived equality in the workgroup.
Including diversity experiences in the organisation is of high importance, as the modern organisations rely more and more on heterogeneous workgroups to produce creative and productive solutions to business problems, forcing employees of different cultures, race/ethnicities, ages and gender to work together (Robinson & Dechant, 1997). Diverse workgroups also present unique challenges, such as conflict management, coordination and motivation (Jehn, Northcraft & Neale, 1999). In South Africa, diversity, multiculturalism, affirmative action and equal employment opportunity are words in common currency in a newly democratic country (Human 1996). A study carried out on African organisations suggests that if diversity within African organisations is positively experienced, it could enhance harmony and effectiveness within that organisation (Nyambegera, 2002). He found that organisations in Africa, who deliberately embraced acts of „inclusion‟ rather than „exclusion‟, appreciating their employee differences, improved their image and their effectiveness. In the light of this discussion, the last aim of this study was to determine if there are differences with regards to bullying for employees who have negative, versus employees who have positive, diversity experiences.
Based on the above discussion, this study focuses on workplace bullying (consisting of four dimensions, i.e., direct and indirect bullying, and bullying by supervisors and colleagues), the prevalence thereof and to establish if there are differences between different socio-demographic groups, SOC and diversity experiences.
From the problem statement discussed above, the following research questions emerge:
What is the relationship between workplace bulling, socio-demographic characteristics, sense of coherence and diversity experiences according to the literature?
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How frequently do employees in South Africa experience acts of workplace bullying?
Are there significant differences between socio-demographic groups (including race, gender, age, education and industry) for workplace bullying?
Are there significant differences between the different types of bullying (direct, indirect, supervisor and colleague bullying) with regards to sense of coherence?
Are there significant differences between the different types of bullying (direct, indirect, supervisor and colleague bullying) with regard to diversity experiences?
What recommendations can be made for future research?
1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The research objectives are divided into a general objective and specific objectives.
1.2.1 General objective
The general objective of this research is to determine the frequency of workplace bullying in South Africa and to determine if differences exist in the experiencing of bullying with regards to socio-demographic characteristics, sense of coherence and diversity experiences.
1.2.2 Specific objectives
The specific objectives of this research are:
To determine the relationship between workplace bullying, socio-demographic characteristics, sense of coherence and diversity experiences according to the literature.
To determine how frequently employees in South Africa experience acts of workplace bullying.
To determine if there are significant differences between socio-demographic groups (including race, gender, age, education and industry) for workplace bullying.
To determine if there are significant differences between the different types of bullying (direct, indirect, supervisor and colleague bullying) with regards to sense of coherence.
To determine if there are significant differences between the different types of bullying (direct, indirect, supervisor and colleague bullying) with regard to diversity experiences.
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1.3 RESEARCH METHOD
The research method consists of a literature review and an empirical study. The results obtained will be presented in the form of a research article.
1.3.1 Literature Review
In phase 1 a complete review regarding direct bullying, indirect bullying, bullying by supervisors and colleagues and the relationship of bullying with socio-demographic characteristics (gender, race, age, education and industry) SOC and diversity experience was carried out.
The sources that will be consulted include: North-West University virtual library. Search engines such as EbscoHost, SabinetOnline, SAePublications, ScienceDirect, Emerald, Jstor and Google Scholar were utilised. The Ferdinand Postma Library situated at the Potchefstroom campus of the North-West University was visited on occasions when articles could not be retrieved from the virtual library. Journals consulted were: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, South African Journal of Human Resource Management, South African Journal of Psychology, Management Dynamics, South African Business Review, South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, and the Journal of Applied Psychology.
1.3.2 Research participants
The target population will consist of employees in the following industries in South Africa: financial, mining, government, manufacturing and academic. Data was gathered from 2007 to 2010 (N = 13 911). The population sample is inclusive of all nine provinces in South Africa, consisting of both genders and all racial groups in South Africa, classified as Whites, Blacks, Coloureds and Indians. The level of education was also taken into account. For this study, it was important to use a representative sample of the South African population. Generalisations are made with regards to bullying in South Africa.
11 1.3.3 Measuring instrument(s)
The instrument that was utilised in this study is called the South African Employee Health and Wellness Survey (SAEHWS), which is a self-reporting instrument. The SAEHWS is validated for South Africa, provides cut-off norms and is culturally sensitive and not biased against any culture group within South Africa. The SAEHWS is supported by a predictive model, which allows for human capital risk prediction and the proactive management of risks and work-related wellbeing of employees, teams, and areas of operations. The internal consistencies are also acceptable with Cronbach‟s Alpha coefficients above the cut-off point of 0,70 (Rothmann & Rothmann, 2006). The following scales were utilised for this study:
Workplace bullying The experience of bullying at work was measured in terms of four
dimensions: direct bullying by supervisors (7 items, e.g., “how often do you feel that you are unfairly criticised by your superiors in the workplace?”), indirect bullying by supervisors (4 items, e.g., “how often do you feel that your superiors are spreading unfair rumours about you?”), direct bullying by colleagues (12 items, e.g., “how often do you experience unpleasant personal remarks from your colleagues?”) and indirect bullying by colleagues (12 items, e.g., “how often do you feel that your colleagues are spreading unfair rumours about you?”). All items were rated on a Likert-response scale, ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (always). Reported Cronbach‟s alpha coefficients for workplace bullying is reported as varying between 0,81 and 0,86 (Rothmann and Rothmann, 2006).
Sense of coherence SOC was measured by means of 13 test items, using a Likert-scale
response of 0 (never) to 6 (always) with a Chronbach‟s alpha coefficient of 0,78. A typical question was: “Do you have the feeling that you don't really care about what goes on around you?”.
Diversity experiences In order to determine the perceptions of the participants regarding the
diversity within their organisation, six items were used. Again the responses were scaled from 1 (never) to 4 (always), and included questions such as: “Do employees from different racial/ethnic groups show prejudice towards each other at work?”. The Cronbach‟s alpha coefficient is 0,72 (Rothmann & Rothmann, 2006).
12 1.3.4 Research procedure
After permission was granted by the general manager of each organisation, the data was collected. A letter explaining the purpose of the study was included in the questionnaire to ensure the participants of the confidentiality of their responses. The informed consent of each participant was also obtained prior to completing the questionnaire. The participants had between twenty and thirty minutes to complete the questionnaire. Data was collected from January 2007 until February 2010, implying the use of survey archive data. It is important to keep the principles in mind when using archive data (Whitley, 2002). These principles imply that the purpose of the original and current study should be of similar nature in order to prevent any bias, and to document the validity, reliability and sampling procedure of the data collection. The variables during the original study must remain valid for the current study in order to ensure that the test hypothesis remains accurate, and changes in social attitudes and processes must be tracked in order to ensure that the data is not too old; otherwise it could become out-dated and irrelevant.
1.3.5 Statistical analysis
The statistical analysis was carried out with the help of the SPSS programme (SPSS Inc. 2009). Descriptive statistics are used to describe the basic features of the data (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008), whilst inferential statistics are used to determine the different relationships between the variables. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to ascertain the significance of differences between bullying levels of different socio-demographical groups, SOC and diversity experiences. The MANOVA is at its best when the assumptions are met and also when there is a substantial correlation between the dependent variables (Kerlinger & Lee 2000). MANOVA is the counterpart of analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods, to cover cases where there are more than one dependent variable and where the dependent variables cannot simply be combined. It is also used to identify whether changes in the independent variables have a significant effect on the dependent variables. Wilk‟s Lambda was used to test the likelihood of the data under the assumption of equal population mean vectors for all groups, against the likelihood under the assumption that the population mean vectors are identical to those of the sample mean vectors for the different groups. When an effect was significant in MANOVA, one-way analysis of variance was used to discover which dependent variables had been affected. ANOVA reflects the expression of the
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hypothesis tests of interests in terms of variance estimates (Muller & Fetterman, 2002). A Bonferroni type adjustment was made for an inflated Type 1 error. The Games-Howell procedure was used to determine whether statistically differences exist between the groups.
1.3.6 Ethical considerations
Due to the personal nature of the research, ethical issues such as informed consent, voluntary participation, doing no harm, confidentiality, and privacy, needs to be taken into account (Devous, 2002).
1.4 OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS
In chapter 2, the findings of the empirical study are discussed in the form of a research article. Chapter 3 will deal with the conclusions, limitations and recommendations of this study.
1.5 CHAPTER SUMMARY
In this chapter, the author discussed the problem statement and research objectives. The measuring instruments and research method used in this study were explained followed by a short overview of the chapters to follow.
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CHAPTER 2
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WORKPLACE BULLYING OF SOUTH AFRICAN EMPLOYEES: PREVALENCE AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH
SENSE OF COHERENCE AND DIVERSITY EXPERIENCES
ABSTRACT
Orientation: Workplace bullying is creating negative physical and psychological effects on
employees and has a negative impact on the bottom line of organisations. Workplace bullying has been related to excessive absenteeism, high employee turnover and hostile work environments.
Research purpose: To determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in South Africa, and to
determine if differences exist in the experiencing of bullying with regards to socio-demographic characteristics (including race, gender, age, education and industry), sense of coherence (SOC) and diversity experiences.
Motivation for the study: To draw attention to the implications and negative effects of workplace
bullying and to determine if employees with certain socio-demographic characteristics, SOC levels and diversity experiences respond to higher levels of bullying than others.
Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional field survey approach was employed.
The South African Employee Health and Wellness Survey (SAEHWS) was administered to identify several aspects related to the health and wellness status of employees. An availability sample (N =13 911) was utilised to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in a sample of South African employees. Frequencies were used to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying for the total sample and MANOVA was used to determine differences between the groups.
Main findings: The results indicate that 31,1% of the population responded to the experience of
workplace bullying. Significant differences were found for all the socio-demographic groups. Participants with a higher level of SOC responded to lower levels of workplace bullying, and participants who experienced diversity in a positive manner also responded to lower levels of workplace bullying.
Practical/Managerial implications: Employers need to realise that workplace bullying is a prevalent
problem amongst South African employees and ensure that the necessary prevention methods are in place.
Contribution/Value-add: This study contributes to the limited research on the prevalence of
workplace bullying and the relationship SOC and diversity experiences in the South African work context.
Keywords: direct bullying, indirect bullying, bullying by supervisors, bullying by colleagues,
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INTRODUCTION
Workplace bullying is creating devastating physical and psychological effects for the employee, as well as impacting negatively on the organisation‘s bottom line (Hood, 2004). Workplace bullying manifests in a wide variety of behaviour, such as public humiliation and criticism, verbal abuse, social exclusion, intimidation, inaccurate accusations, spreading rumours, ignoring an individual for a long period of time, destabilising the victim‘s professional status, to name but a few (Einarsen, Hoel & Notelaers, 2009; Engineering Management, 2005/6; Escartin, Rodriquez-Carballeira, Zapf, Porrúa & Martin-Peña, 2009; Johnson, 2009). Research has shown that bullying affects individuals all over the world, with consequences such as the intention to leave the profession, physical effects such as sleep and eating disorders, and psychological effects such as anxiety, depression and a lowered self-esteem (Marshall, 2006; Matthiesen & Einarsen, 2001; Vessey, Demarco, Gaffney & Budin, 2009). The implication for the organisation is that the physical and psychological effects of bullying manifests in not only the aforementioned, but also affects the company as it hinders group communication and creates hostile work environments characterised by distrust, apprehension, anger and suspicion (Djurkovic, McCormack & Casimir, 2008; Frost, 2003; Moyaed, Daraiseh, Shell & Salem, 2005; Vartia, 2003). It is worth taking notice of these effects as workplace bullying is seen as a prevalent problem in organisations.
Internationally, researchers agree that workplace bullying occurs frequently in the workplace (Hoel, Cooper & Faragher, 2001; Lutgen-Sandvik, Tracy & Alberts, 2007; Zapf, Einarsen, Hoel & Vartia, 2003), making it a phenomenon worth investigating in South Africa. Only one study that investigated the prevalence of workplace bullying could be found on the website WorkTrauma.com. This study (conducted by Work Dignity Institute in 2000) determined that approximately 77,8% of South Africans have been exposed to workplace bullying. However, no recent studies on the prevalence of workplace bullying in the South African context are available. Furthermore, only a few studies examined how socio-demographic groups differ with regard to their experience of workplace bullying. This is important because of the multicultural, multiracial composition of the South African workforce, and socio-demographic factors such as ethnicity, gender, age, education level and type of industry should be investigated to determine if differences exist with regard to the experience of workplace bullying.
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International research has focussed on the possibility that different ethnic groups experience different levels of workplace bullying (Archer, 1999; Dinsdale, 2006; Lewis & Gunn, 2007; Fox & Stallworth, 2005). No studies could be found that focused on the possible differences between ethnic groups in the South African context. Gender-differences also received some attention in international research on workplace bullying, although there has been no definite conclusion on which group, men or women, tend to experience the highest level of workplace bullying (Cortina, Magley, Williams & Langhout, 2001; Ólafsson & Jóhannsdóttir, 2004; Ortega, Høgh, Pejtersen & Olsen, 2009). To date, in South Africa, only two studies have been conducted investigating if one gender-group experiences more workplace bullying than the other (Pietersen, 2007; Steinman, 2003); however, the studies are limited to the health and academic sectors which limits the generalisation of the results to other sectors. There are also no recent studies (i.e. from 2010) on bullying-experiences between gender groups in South Africa.
Contrasting findings for age and workplace bullying were obtained in international research. Although most studies found that younger employees are more exposed to workplace bullying (Einarsen & Rakness, 1997; Magerøy, Lau, Riise & Moen, 2009), other studies found no significant differences between age groups (Cortina et al, 2001; Ortega et al., 2009). In addition to age, differences in groups with higher and lower education levels have been investigated. Internationally, only two studies found significant differences based on education (Niedhammer, David & Degioanni, 2007; Ortega et al, 2009). Currently, there is no literature available in South Africa on differences experienced by different age groups or groups that differ in education. It is also important and interesting to see how the experience of workplace bullying differs between industries. International literature indicates that higher levels of workplace bullying exist in the health and public sectors than in other industries (Johnson, 2009; Niedhammer et al., 2007; Ortega et al., 2009). Workplace bullying studies in South Africa are mainly conducted within the health sector (Steinman, 2003); however, there is no study that compares different industries with regards to workplace bullying.
Although it is important to investigate whether there are differences in the experience of workplace bullying between socio-demographic groups, it is also important to keep in mind factors such as personal resources that can buffer against the experience of situations such as workplace bullying. Several studies have demonstrated that the manner in which stress is
23
handled differs between individuals and that personal resources can act as a buffer against the influence of stress (Cowie, Naylor, Rivers & Pereira, 2002; Glasø, Matthiesen, Nielsen and Einarsen, 2007; Vessey et al., 2009). The ‗stress‘ referred to can be attributed to the experience of workplace bullying, as studies have shown that one of the psychological effects of workplace bullying is stress (Einarsen & Mikkelsen, 2003). One such personal resource is sense of coherence (SOC). Studies have indicated that individuals with a high SOC are able to cope more adequately with stressful external stimuli (Albertsen, Nielsen & Borg, 2001; Diraz, Ortlepp & Greyling, 2003; Du Toit, 2002). It is therefore possible that individuals with higher levels of SOC are more immune to onslaughts of workplace bullying due to their ability to better cope with stressful external stimuli, and would therefore also report lower levels of workplace bullying compared to individuals with a lower SOC. There is currently no literature available in South Africa comparing the experience of workplace bullying of individuals with high and low SOC.
In South Africa, legislation such as the Employment Equity act and affirmative action, is forcing organisations to integrate their workforce to better reflect demographics and therefore creating diverse workgroups who have to work together in order to reach organisational goals. Within organisations, management are looking towards diverse workgroups for identifying solutions to organisational problems as homogenous groups have been found to enhance creativity and problem-solving (Jehn, Northcraft & Neale, 1999). South Africa is seen as one of the most diverse countries in the world and South African organisations are becoming increasingly aware of differences between employees (Maier, 2002). Intolerance for these differences have been found to lead to conflict, hurt, competition and resentment amongst employees (Cilliers & May, 2002; Pretorius, 2003), and attempts to address these differences in the workplace is often met with fear and bewilderment (Motsoaledi, 2009). These workgroups can experience diversity in a positive or negative manner, based on the perception of status and power within the workgroup. If diversity issues are experienced in a negative way, it could act as a driving force behind experiences of workplace bullying (Alderfer, 1987; Ely & Thomas, 2001; Heames, Harvey & Treadway, 2006). To date there is no literature comparing positive and negative diversity experiences and workplace bullying.
Based on the above, the objectives of this research were to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying in a large, more representative South African sample and to determine if
