Bigg Elephant

The most common type of bullying behaviour identified by Mellington’s research was verbal (for example, “using put downs, insults or sarcasm to regularly humiliate, being spoken to in rude or abusive language”); the second most common type of behaviour involved psychological manipulation of the work environment (for example, “requests for help or advice being ignored, being deliberately left out of workplace activities, and excessive scrutiny of work”).

However, perhaps the most alarmingly finding from Mellington’s research was how targets dealt with being bullied; “not doing anything about it (the bullying) was the most common method taken by a target in response to being bullied. And, reporting the bullying or making a complaint were reported to be the most unsuccessful method taken in trying to resolve bullying. The action deemed most successful by respondents were “no action” and “seeking a new job”,” Mellington said.

On an individual level, Mellington said: “Workplace bullying can impact on a person from (creating) mild annoyance through to severe psychological, social and economic trauma. Previous research has indicated impacts such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, decreased self-confidence, panic attacks, fatigue, eating disorders, post- traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal ideation.” Mellington’s research looked predominately at the health impact of workplace bullying and she has identified three key findings:

“There is a direct negative relationship between workplace bullying and health. Workers who indicated that they had been bullied reported poorer health. And, breaking that down even further, the severity of the perceived impact of the bullying was significantly correlated with poorer health.”

Secondly, “the negative health effects of workplace bullying linger on well after the bullying has ceased, which just wasn’t thought of before. Put simply, we thought people were bullied, it had an impact on them, but then they got better. Workers who had been targeted by a bully reported significantly greater anxiety (after the bullying had ceased) than those who have never experienced or witnessed workplace bullying.” The anxiety symptoms Mellington discovered included loss of sleep, being nervous and uptight, and feeling scared and panicky for no reason.

Finally, Mellington’s research results suggest that the experience of merely witnessing workplace bullying can also have a negative impact on health. “This has serious ramifications for workplace health because (under Australia’s various Occupational Health and Safety Acts) employers must maintain a workplace without risk to health and safety to all employees and this finding indicates that the negative impact of workplace bullying is not just experienced by the person being targeted.” (Fighting Back: Workplace Bullying in Australia, Steven Gregor, InPsych production editor, Australian Psychological Society).