Workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment

Premilla D’Cruz, Ernesto Noronha, Garima Khemani and Rajeswari Banerjee

Chapter 15 in Handbook of Critical Work and Organizational Psychology, 2026, pp 261-277 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: A critical work-organizational psychology perspective on workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment involves a postpositivist criticalizing lens, through which we examine the phenomenon's three key features, namely, power, subjectivity and context. We extend the focus of power dynamics beyond its emergent perspective on the shifting, dialectical and polymorphous nature of the target–bully relationship, to speak to the influence of other protagonists such as leaders, human resource practitioners/managers, co-workers/bystanders and unions. We highlight how subjectivity, while foregrounding interpretation, impacts the conceptualization and measurement of the phenomenon, with implications for validity and coping. We depict context as multi-layered, subsuming not just sociocultural aspects, but also occupational/professional/sectoral settings, nature of the employment contract, workplace location and institutionalization as well as their inter-relationships. Through a postpositivist criticalizing lens on workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment, we signal pathways towards ethical, inclusive, dignified and socially sustainable workplaces.

Keywords: Context; Criticalizing; Mistreatment; Postpositivist; Power; Subjectivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035331055
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