Mediating Bullying and Strain in Higher Education Institutions: The Case of Pakistan

Ambreen Anjum, Amina Muazzam, Farkhanda Manzoor, Anna Visvizi and Raheel Nawaz
Additional contact information
Ambreen Anjum: Department of Applied Psychology, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Punjab 54000, Pakistan
Amina Muazzam: Department of Applied Psychology, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Punjab 54000, Pakistan
Farkhanda Manzoor: Department of Zoology, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Punjab 54000, Pakistan
Anna Visvizi: School of Business & Economics, Deree College—The American College of Greece, 153-42 Athens, Greece
Raheel Nawaz: Department of Operations, Technology, Events and Hospitality Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester M1 5GF, UK

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: Although workplace bullying is a well-researched phenomenon, the specific way it unfolds in higher education institutions (HEI) remains largely underdiscussed. Based on the outcomes of a survey conducted across HEI in Pakistan, by reference to structural equation modeling, using Amos-20, this paper not only adds to our understanding of the scope and features of bullying in HEI, but also suggests strategies employers and victims could employ to cope with the adverse implications of bullying. The key findings of this research are: (i) a positive correlation exists between the degree of workplace bullying and strain levels; (ii) more frequently than not, female employees, younger employees, and employees in junior positions are victims of bullying; (iii) bullying and strain can be fully mediated only when both emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies are employed in synergy. In brief, although research findings elaborated in this paper draw from the specific case of HEI in Pakistan, this paper makes a case for more research, vigilance and action to understand the scale of the phenomenon in academia and to undertake concerted action to mitigate its adverse impact on specific individuals and HEI themselves.

Keywords: workplace bullying; HEI; coping strategies; administration; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2244/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2244/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:8:p:2244-:d:222720

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().