The relationships of experiencing workplace bullying with the mental health, affective commitment, and job satisfaction of Australian Defence Force personnel

Abstract

Bullying is arguably one of the most pervasive of workplace stressors. The prevalence and duration of workplace bullying, and the wide-reaching consequences add to its debilitating force. This dissertation applied the Job Demands-Control (Karasek, 1979) and Job Demands-Control-Support (Johnson & Hall, 1988) models as theoretical frameworks to test the associations of workplace bullying with psychological distress, affective commitment, and job satisfaction. Two well-known job stressors of role overload and low job control were assessed alongside workplace bullying to determine the relative impact of different job demands on mental health and wellbeing. Negative associations of workplace bullying with affective commitment and job satisfaction, and a positive association with psychological distress, were demonstrated in two samples (Australian Army and Australian Defence Force), with minimal variation across gender, work status (permanent/reserve), Service, and rank. Even after adjusting for other job demands, workplace bullying explained significant variance in each outcome. These associations were also supported at the group (unit) level, with very strong correlations of workplace bullying with all three outcomes across units (r = |.7 to .9|). Multilevel modelling showed these significant associations whether working in high-bullying climates, or being the sole target working in low-bullying climates. The climate of workplace bullying explained significant variance in psychological distress, affective commitment, and job satisfaction between units. Consistent findings at the individual and group level provide a more comprehensive explanation of the relationships of bullying with each outcome. There is little doubt that workplace bullying is linked to reduced workforce capability. Organisation support, supervisor support, and job control all had significant positive associations with affective commitment and job satisfaction, and negative associations with psychological distress. Support for the hypothesised buffering effects from these measures was not found, possibly due to the lack of matching between the potential moderators and workplace bullying. When workplace bullying occurred, it was likely to occur from more than one source. As the number of sources increased there was poorer mental health and wellbeing. In this study, superiors and coworkers were the most prevalent sources. However, over three times the proportion of employees reported seeking medical and/or mental health care when experiencing bullying from superiors than from coworkers or subordinates. This thesis provides the ADF with the first empirical research into workplace bullying. The findings demonstrate the importance of addressing occupational stressors in garrison. Workplace bullying can, and should, be treated as a job demand. Workplace design, planning, and strategies need to consider workplace bullying alongside other occupational stressors. The implementation of interpersonal skills training will empower bystanders, equip supervisors, and reduce the escalation of negative interactions. Organisational-level interventions, endorsed by senior management and designed to address high-bullying climates, will be linked with better mental health and wellbeing of employees. Other primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies are offered for the ADF, and more broadly for all organisations. This thesis discusses a number of directions for future research, including ‘deep dives’ into workplaces that report high or low bullying climates, and exploring other sources and types of this negative behaviour. Workplace interventions successful in preventing or minimising workplace bullying are still scarce, yet present another critical area for future research. Show more