Theory of Mind and Bullying

There are various theories regarding the cause of bullying, such as socioeconomic barriers and restrictions to reward and recognition, or different trait theories that suggest that bullying behaviors are genetic, and the environment may promote bullying-type behaviors. Some theories also suggest that antisocial behavior, conduct disorders, or possibly sociopathy are the root causes of bullying. A relatively new suggestion is that failure to develop a theory of mind may lead to bullying. Having a theory of mind is the ability to understand that other people may have different emotions, beliefs, and points of view other than one's own, and that a lack of theory of mind may lead to reduced empathy or compassion for others. There has been some research that connects the lack of theory of mind to children with autism or Asperger's syndrome and children and adults who exhibit bullying behaviors. The findings of most meta-analyses on bullying are that these events are not homogeneous in terms of methods or types of bullying, and that interventions will require assessment and treatment specific to the cause of the bullying. - Dr. Stewart 

An Organizational Approach to Workplace Bullying 

The Bystander Effect

 

Managers and administrators need to lift their gaze above the bullying event to determine the damage or aftermath of the bully event. For example, are employee survey ratings poor or perhaps avoided altogether? An analysis of the social environments in the workplace and participation rates in team-building and collaborative projects in the workplace will be another factor that might indicate that the organization has more bystanders than initially thought. The bystander effect suggests that the more witnesses there are concerning an emergency or adverse event, the less likely individuals will step forward and help. When a bully is left unchecked, bystanders feel that their intervention would be too costly on a personal level or so insignificant to promote change that the stress of remaining an apathetic bystander is considered a necessary tradeoff. The longer the situation goes without healthy organizational culture change, the more toxic and unstable the work environment will become.

Are You an Unhappy Bully?

Everyone has bullying tendencies when they feel threatened or have unmet needs that are difficult to resolve. The five-factor personality traits model comprises five categories: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The five-factor personality traits may foster great leaders and compassionate community helpers when balanced with other social checks and norms.

 However, the five-factor model's extremes in personality expression may give rise to antisocial personality disorders that often describe and explain bully-type behaviors. Some bullies remain in this personality phase across their lifespans. However, an unhappy bully is a person who does feel regret and remorse and is morally engaged. In contrast, a sociopath or psychopath shows a disregard for others and fails to feel remorse and guilt. The good news is that if you are a bully and feel remorse or guilt over your interactions with others or desire to change to a more balanced combination of the five-factor personality traits, you are probably a bully who can change. Sometimes change is easy with reflection and positive mentors, but bullies may also need to seek professionals in the mental health field to help manage their feelings and unmet needs.

Dr. Debra Stewart

 

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Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

 

An Organizational Approach to Workplace Bullying

Economy of Effort and Bullying

Now that you have identified a bully event, would you say that the problem was an employee or supervisor/leader issue or would you diagnose that bullying and toxic workstations are a system problem or a sign of an unhealthy organizational culture? In other words, where would you focus your training and resource dollars to create a bully-free workplace? -Dr. Stewart

Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

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Workplace Bullying

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Don't Ignore Victim Behaviors

Hypervigilance and exiting teams are victim behaviors that are hard to manage because the victim feels that the environment is unsafe and intimidating. Creating policies and clear expectations for a nonviolent, bullying-free work environment is an essential step toward rebuilding trust in the workplace. However, manager and leadership training that addresses the empowerment of all staff and appropriate conflict resolution will create a plan from the top down that supports and brings those policies to life. The goal is to build functional teams that collaborate and trust one another again.

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Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

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How I survived workplace bullying | Sherry Benson-Podolchuk | TEDxWinnipeg

Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

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Drive-by-Bully Prevention

Health and wellness are brain-based, as the brain is involved whether we are emotionally or physically ill. Unhealthy lifestyle choices and risky behaviors may be new and novel or embedded into dysfunctional bully-type personalities; however, individuals and organizations are finding that these unhealthy behaviors and practices can be challenging to change and redirect. This problematic issue may result from cognitive changes driven by internal and external forces that have damaged the brain, leading to impaired function and compromised decision-making. Millions of dollars are spent on bullying-prevention materials that promote a healthy workplace culture, target bullying behaviors, and hold bullies accountable. Still, the content is not specific enough to drive change. This form of drive-by-bully prevention raises awareness of bullying, but a broader scope of support is needed for lasting change in positive workplace behaviors and bully triad accountability. -Dr. Stewart

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Bullying Will Undermine Organizational Wellness

Meta-analysis of aggregate health data may provide information that health promotion administrators need to compare and contrast different systems for correlation and effectiveness. This analysis may reveal that the workplace does not have a bully prevention and management program. Organizations collect data such as absenteeism, accident and injury, retention, employee health risk assessments, and employee wellness program utilization.  Research has found that an improvement in one of these areas of reporting will yield favorable results in others areas of health and wellness reporting. If the workplace culture supports acts of bullying, then the participation and energies devoted to organizational and employee wellness will also decline. It is essential to look for a correlation between reports and incremental improvements to look for a link that will help health promotion administrators and employers find the total value of their wellness programming and to improve the economy of effort.

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Employee Complaints May Reveal Bullying and Serious System Problems

Employees who complain that specific processes for rewards, better jobs, or better hours and work environments are unjust, rigged, or politically motivated are probably stating the truth. Complaints or employee dissatisfaction are often not taken seriously but rather seen as mere expressions of discontent by employees who feel over-entitled. However, employee complaints that recur from survey to survey reveal a systemic problem, such as misuse of power or bullying by management. Biased and discriminatory managerial decision-making is an abuse of power, and it can be subtle and found in the form of micromanagement to explosive coercion and intimidation. Structure the organizational culture differently by removing these barriers, clarifying roles, improving job descriptions, and holding those in authority accountable for their actions and reactions regarding fairness.

Dr. Stewart

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The Bully Profile

Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

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Make Bullying Abnormal

An organizational change toward a healthier workplace culture may include the revision of policies and procedures, job descriptions, orientation, training, and annual training, which should readdress the mission and values of the organization while declaring the organizational definition of bullying. Without an organizational definition of bullying and all its degrees, cognitive reconstruction occurs within the workplace environment that may justify all the dysfunctional behaviors of the bully triad until a devastating violent act occurs. Policies and procedures, job descriptions, and annual training should address the organizational definition of bullying so that bullying is considered abnormal or at least recognized as soon as it occurs.

Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

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Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

 

The book Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully examines organizational culture and wellness in the presence of bully triads. The book includes ideas for assessment and performance improvement concerning organizational culture. The book addresses possible approaches to improve workplace culture and organizational wellness and to create bully-free environments.

 

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Something is Wrong with Conducting Business as Usual

It is important to see the bully triad as a system problem and not caused by individual outliers of the organization. Bully triads exist because there is something wrong with the norms and ways of the workplace culture and the subcultures that exist. Even if a bully event were resolved, it would not take long for another bully event to occur because the way of conducting business has not changed. Systems are powerful and can provide a sense of rightness and justice, or they can perpetuate toxic behaviors and bully events that bog down operations. But systems that exist to standardize or to create processes that can measure workplace culture shifts are the best preventative measure to keep new bully triads from forming.

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Bullying and Fault-Finding

In an effort to avoid lawsuits and low employee morale, managers encourage victims and bystanders to see the bullying situation as never their fault. However, if bullying is fostered by unhealthy organizational environments and toxic workplaces, then the very existence of the bully triad is a system problem and not necessarily an individual employee bully problem. Organizational wellness requires support from the top down, especially when it comes to change that focuses on supportive relationships, feedback, and conflict resolution. In a bully triad, which consists of the bully, the victim, and the bystander, members switch roles and often learn the dysfunctional responses that work during a bullying event. Seeing the bully triad as a group in need of assessment, care, and realignment will help everyone to see the problem holistically. Micromanaging the bully and making the person an example are the wrong ways to seek change in an already toxic work environment. Instead, providing assessment and support across the entire workplace or educational setting will identify knowledge gaps that can drive the right training and foster a mission-based cultural change.

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When the Effects of Workplace Bullying and Abuse Linger

Candidates with short work histories or failure to develop within the organization may indicate that a person has been a member of a bully triad in the past. Remember a bully triad consists of the bully, the victim, and the bystander. It is essential that during the screening process, questions are presented to explore the candidate’s opinions and ideas or experience with workplace bullies. Often, members of previous bully triads consist of individuals who have tried to survive toxic workplaces, and bringing them into your organization may involve a time of healing so that the employee can learn to trust again and relinquish unhealthy coping mechanisms. Workplace bullying is common, and finding elements of past triads in new employees may help managers develop new employee orientation programs that include a triage area for support and clarification of acceptable behaviors and values.

Finding the Good in the Workplace Bully

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