An international team of researchers found employees who endure what is known as "abusive supervision" are more likely to behave poorly on purpose by messing up tasks, arriving late, taking long breaks and putting in minimal effort.
The authors of the study, published in the Journal of Management, sought to answer why horrible bosses make employees less willing to show what is known as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), or commitment to the company outside of their contractual obligations. That could include helping colleagues or volunteering for unusual work hours. They also assessed its effect on a worker's tendency to harm the organization, by displaying counterproductive (反作用的) work behavior (CWB).
To find out more, and uncover which negative outcome bullying (欺凌) behavior is more likely to cause, researchers from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in China, Renmin University of China and Swinburne University of Technology in Australia cooperated and analyzed 427 existing studies. They found workers acted out either because they felt they were being treated unfairly in the workplace, or felt stressed and this affected their ability to perform as expected. An employee who felt they were a victim of injustice tended more towards reluctance to show OCB. Stressed workers, meanwhile, were more associated with CWB.
Employers who worried supervisors are affecting productivity can take steps to ease issues by regularly training managers, introducing policies which cope with workplace injustices and helping workers to deal with stress.
This is not the first study to suggest unkind practices can affect the well-being of workers. The paper follows a study published in the European Heart Journal last year, which showed employees who suffer bullying are more likely to develop heart diseases than those who aren't. Bullying and violence are common at workplaces and those exposed to these stressors are at higher risk.
