Bully Profile

Jess Alberts, Sarah Tracy, and Pamela Lutgen-Sandvik began their study of U.S. workplace behaviors in March 2004. That is when the ASU scholars launched the American Workplace Survey, a confidential Internet survey to assess workplace social interactions.

The survey yielded more than 400 useable responses. The results provide an early glimpse into the prevalence of workplace bullying in the United States. While still preliminary, data from the survey do show some interesting trends.

The three most common negative acts, as reported by targets of bullying, were exposure to an unmanageable workload, working below one’s level of competence, and having information withheld.

The three industries where bullying is most likely to occur (as reported by targets) are administration and support; services other than public administration; and education. For witnesses, the three most likely industries where bullying occurs are health/social assistance, administration and support; and education.

Those who had been either targets or witnesses of bullying reported greater job stress and lower job satisfaction. They also ranked their job experience more poorly than those who had been neither targets nor witnesses.

Targets of bullying were more likely to be female than male. Bullies identified by targets (not witnesses) were more likely to be male than female.
Talking to family or friends and talking to co-workers helped improve the target’s feelings. Leaving a job voluntarily did not. It was associated with a downturn in the target’s feelings. Working harder was associated with increased bullying.
Participants in the survey were most likely to work in administration/support (14.8 percent), health/social assistance (14.3 percent), or education and related fields (14.1 percent).

—Skip Derra