Prevention of Mobbing / Bullying as a Psychosocial Stressor

Abstract

Relevance of the research. The problem of workplace mobbing incorporating bullying as an intense psychosocial stressor has been examined in foreign countries for three decades, at the same time searching for answers on how to reduce the harm of the phenomenon to organizations and their members. Single studies of this phenomenon in Lithuania started only about a decade ago and remain sparse, thus, both organizations and the general public lack knowledge about the measures of prevention of the phenomenon. Research shows that mobbing and bullying remain a topical problem in the management of organizations, which is influenced by individual members of organizations, factors of organizational management and the social and cultural processes in the societies that can lead to different consequences in each country. Therefore, in this case it is important to evaluate the level of exploration of the phenomenon, that is, what data can be available when choosing preventive instruments. The significance of research carried out internationally and the recommendations provided is undeniable, but when analysing the scenarios of prevention of mobbing and bullying it is necessary to evaluate the prevention measures proposed on the basis of research on the negative relationships between employees in a particular country. The research problem is posed by the question of what are the factors of mobbing/bullying as a psychosocial stressor, and how to reduce the effect of these stressors to employees by preventive measures. Research subject: prevention of mobbing / bullying as a psychosocial stressor. Research purpose was to define preventive measures of mobbing/bullying as a psychosocial stressor. The following objectives were formulated to achieve the purpose: 1. To discuss prevention measures of mobbing/bullying as a psychosocial stressor. 2. To evaluate the state of exploration of mobbing/bullying prevention in the studies carried out in Lithuania. 3. To distinguish the external factors that help to ensure the prevention of mobbing and bullying in organizations. Research methods. The article is prepared applying the methods of systemic analysis of academic literature, logical analysis and synthesis of theoretical research carried out. Organizational factors of risk of mobbing/bullying are distinguished on the basis of the studies carried out abroad in the last two decades. Outcomes and conclusions. Most scientific research on prevention of mobbing and bullying is focussed on restoration of functionality of organizational management. That is, the emphasis is on the models of organizational management that proved to be correct and ensure a clear and accurate distribution of tasks, wisdom of leadership, formation of a healthy climate of the organization, development of the system of prevention of bullying in general, training of managers and employees. Studies show that in order to reduce the damage of bullying and mobbing in organizations, both internal and external resources are not fully used. However, it must be recognised that the societal norms, values, aspects of moral and law are directly reflected in organizations. Though it is fair, but it is not fully rational to require from organizations something which has not become the norm in the society, the members of which form organizations. The studies of mobbing/bullying in Lithuanian organizations are carried out for a relatively short time and are not abundant. Most empirical research focuses on the analysis of the situation (occurrence of mobbing in the organization, effect on health) in individual areas of professional activities and provides recommendations only in a few narrow aspects of the management of organizations in formulating prevention policies. It is therefore difficult not only to evaluate the extent of the phenomenon, but also the capacity of organizations to solve the problem, the more so as the country lacks comprehensive and complex research on mobbing/bullying prevention policies in organizations. After evaluation of the results of studies carried out by various authors and the insights, four key external factors that have a significant influence on prevention of mobbing and bullying in the organization can be distinguished: epidemiology of bullying in the society; capacity of the education system to deal with the problem of bullying and mobbing in organizations and develop effective training programs; legal regulation of bullying and mobbing; development of the policy of publicity and openness, encouraging to accept the existing problems and stimulating discussions of various groups in the society. In this respect, active work of academic community in developing the training programmes and presenting data of scientific research to the general public would be significant. In further research it would make sense to expand the empirical research, analysing the practically applied means of prevention of mobbing / bullying in organizations and their effectiveness.

Keywords: mobbing, bullying, psychosocial stressor, prevention.