Exploring the impact of workplace cyberbullying on trainee doctors.

OBJECTIVES: Workplace bullying is an occupational hazard for trainee doctors. However, little is known about their experiences of cyberbullying at work. This study examines the impact of cyberbullying among trainee doctors, and how attributions of blame for cyberbullying influence individual and work-related outcomes. METHODS: Doctors at over 6 months into training were asked to complete an online survey that included measures of cyberbullying, blame attribution, negative emotion, job satisfaction, interactional justice and mental strain. A total of 158 trainee doctors (104 women, 54 men) completed the survey. RESULTS: Overall, 73 (46.2%) respondents had experienced at least one act of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying adversely impacted on job satisfaction (ß = - 0.19; p < 0.05) and mental strain (ß = 0.22; p < 0.001), although attributions of blame for the cyberbullying influenced its impact and the path of mediation. Negative emotion mediated the relationship between self-blame for a cyber-bullying act and mental strain, whereas interactional injustice mediated the association between blaming the perpetrator and job dissatisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Acts of cyberbullying had been experienced by nearly half of the sample during their training and were found to significantly relate to ill health and job dissatisfaction. The deleterious impact of cyberbullying can be addressed through both workplace policies, and training for trainee doctors and experienced medical professionals.

Coping with Workplace Incivility in Hospital Teams: How Does Team Mindfulness Influence Prevention- and Promotion-Focused Emotional Coping?

Incivility is a growing concern for researchers and practitioners alike, yet we know little about how the team context is related to the way that employees respond to it. In this study, we examined the role of team mindfulness and its direct and buffering effects on individual-level promotion- and prevention-focused emotional coping. We also examined how these forms of coping were related to individual work engagement. In a temporally lagged study of 73 hospital teams (involving 440 team members), multi-level analyses showed that team mindfulness was directly negatively associated with individual-level prevention-focused emotional coping (behavioral disengagement, denial, and venting); however, it was not positively related to individual-level promotion-focused forms of coping (positive reframing and acceptance). In addition, a cross-level interaction effect was identified whereby team mindfulness reduced the positive relationship between incivility and venting, meaning there was less individual-level venting following incivility in the context of higher team mindfulness. These findings may have implications for work engagement, which was shown to be negatively related to venting and behavioral disengagement. Our findings are useful for managers of teams that regularly experience customer incivility as it uncovers how they can develop a team context that discourages ineffective coping responses.

Witnessing workplace bullying and employee well-being: A two-wave field study.

This article aims to (a) explore the impact of witnessing workplace bullying on emotional exhaustion, work-related anxiety, and work-related depression and (b) determine whether the resources of trait optimism, coworker support, and supportive supervisory style buffer the effects of witnessed bullying. In a two-wave study involving 194 employees, we found that witnessing bullying undermined employees' well-being (work-related depression and anxiety) 6 months later, but only if the employees were low in optimism (personal resource) and lacked supervisor support (contextual resource). Strong coworker support weakened the relationship between witnessing bullying and well-being (emotional exhaustion and work-related depression). Our findings demonstrate for the first time some of the factors that protect against the impact of witnessing workplace bullying. Future research should focus on the development of workplace interventions that foster feelings of social support and optimism among employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).