Fear of Non-Employability and of Economic Crisis Increase Workplace Harassment through Lower Organizational Welfare Orientation

Gabriele Giorgi, José M. León-Perez, Francesco Montani, Samuel Fernández-Salinero, Mar Ortiz-Gómez, Antonio Ariza-Montes, Giulio Arcangeli and Nicola Mucci
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Gabriele Giorgi: Department of Human Science, European University of Rome, 00163 Rome, Italy
José M. León-Perez: Department of Social Psychology, Universidad de Sevilla, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
Francesco Montani: Department of Strategy, Management and Organizations, International University of Monaco, 98000 Monaco, Monaco
Samuel Fernández-Salinero: Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain
Mar Ortiz-Gómez: Financial Economics and Accounting Department, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
Antonio Ariza-Montes: Department of Management, Universidad Loyola Andalucía, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
Giulio Arcangeli: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy
Nicola Mucci: Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50121 Florence, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that economic crisis is a preeminent stressor (i.e., economic stress) that may worsen working conditions and expose individuals to negative acts at work (i.e., workplace bullying). Following an occupational health perspective that considers contextual factors as risk factors for workplace bullying, this study aims to examine the mediation effects of organizational orientation to employee welfare in the economic stress-workplace bullying relationship. A cross-sectional study with the participation of 1004 Italian workers from several organizations was conducted. Our results indicate that economic stress (composed of two dimensions: fear of the economic crisis and perceived non-employability) is associated with workplace bullying through the total mediation of organizational orientation to employee welfare. These results have relevant implications for psychosocial risk assessment in turbulent times.

Keywords: economic stress; employability; workplace bullying; psychosocial risks; workplace harassment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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