Negative experiences and negative ties: An analysis of the interdynamics of perceived exposure to workplace bullying and positive and negative social relations at work

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze how employees’ position in the social network affects their exposure to bullying behaviours, and how this exposure in turn affects their positive ties (“friendship”) and negative ties (“difficult” relations) at work. Thus, the study explores the interdynamics of perceptions of negative behaviours and negative and positive relationships. Longitudinal data on perceived exposure to bullying behaviours (NAQ – short version) and network data on relationship quality (friendship relations; difficult relations) were collected in eight small and medium-sized organizations in Finland. Hypotheses were tested based on two waves of data (n = 249) using stochastic actor-oriented modeling. Given the multilevel nature of the data (respondents nested in organizations), different approaches for analyzing the data were explored. Contrary to expectations, initial analyses suggest that neither degree centrality in the network of difficult relations, nor degree centrality in the friendship network at T1 had any effect on perceived exposure to bullying behaviours (T2). However, respondents who experienced higher exposure to bullying behaviours at T1 reported both more friendships (endowment effect) and more difficult relations (creation effect) at T2. This suggests that at the group level, bullying might contribute to group polarization. Also, employees’ exposure to bullying behaviours was affected by the bullying behaviours experienced by their friends, perhaps pointing to social influence effects