MOBBING: A REVIEW OF TURKISH LITERATURE

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MOBBING: A REVIEW OF TURKISH LITERATURE

ABSTRACT

Mobbing as a workplace concept comes into the picture only 30 years back in the world and less than 10 years in Turkey. Considering destructive counterproductive effects on organizations and the society in addition to effects on both physical and psychological health of people, mobbing is a concept needed to paid strong attention. The aim of this study is to provide a general sense to understand Turkey-based specific characteristics of mobbing by reviewing empirical studies conducted in Turkey. In the study, 31 papers reviewed which are published in refereed journals and conference proceedings and their findings are summed up.    

Keywords: Mobbing, Mobbing in Turkey

INTRODUCTION

As a human instinct, for centuries people compete with each other or try to eliminate the counter side even before he/she becomes a real threat to him/her for food, for the loved ones, for money, for being or perceived as successful, so and so forth. Everyone can come across a situation, moreover could have been a figure in such a situation that one being humiliated just because of her/his beauty/fit body, ethnicity, success, or how people can become aggressive when there is a high pressure to finalize the report with a short-notice deadline, or in case of a merger with a floating rumor that layoffs takes place. All such annoying situations are common and often normal in all workplaces but when these or worse harassing actions takes place for a long time on purpose, then the alarms on. Comparing the long history of working life, psychological terror at work is quite a new subject. It backs only to 1980’s when Heinz Leymann first adopted the term “mobbing” - to explain adults ganging up on a target to harass his/her on purpose (Leymann, 1990) - from studies on animals and children when he observed similar behaviors take place at work.

Mobbing is initially used to describe animal group behavior - the attacks from a group of smaller animals threatening a single larger animal- . Later, it was used to explain the very destructive behavior in small groups of children directed against (most often) a single child. After adapting it as an organizational concept, Leymann (1990 & 1996) described mobbing as a hostile and unethical communication which is directed in a systematic way (at least once a week in at last six months period) by one or a number of persons mainly toward one individual, who is pushed into a helpless and defenseless position. It is an interpersonal phenomenon (Zapf and Einarsen, 2001) and defined as one of the extreme negative social interaction at work (Vartia, 1996). It is also mentioned that the final aim of abusive behaviors is to make the victim leave the organization (Davenport, et al. 2003). In addition, it is also an encroachment to civil rights at work (Yuceturk and Oke, 2005). Yuksel (2009) summed up the concept and redefined mobbing as ‘an unmanaged protracted conflict and consequent rumor through grapevine that is distorted over time and turned into a psychological terror at work environment’.  There are many definitions used in the literature but the commonly used traits are; the victim must feel harassed, their work is to be affected, and there must be a measure of frequency to the action (Rayner and Hoel, 1997).

Other than mobbing, there are several different terms used to explain this workplace concept in the literature such as psychological violence/harassment, workplace/psychological terror, scape-goating, abusive behaviors, emotional abuse, workplace trauma, bullying, etc. (Zapf, 1999; Einarsen, 1999) As opposed to many researchers using mobbing and bullying interchangeably, Leymann (1996) differentiated these two concepts on the bases of physical/psychological violence and age. According to him, bullying is a physical aggression and threatening activities among teenagers whereas mobbing is primarily related to psychological violent rather than physical (Zapf, Knorz and Kulla, 1996) and takes place at work among adult people.    

Research on mobbing started in 1980’s in Nordic countries and spread to other European countries in mid-1990s (Zapf and Einarsen, 2001). According to the ULAKBIM database of Turkey, mobbing has started to attract attentions by Yuceturk’s narrative studies at the beginning of 2000s. While considering its destructive effects on individual, organizational and societal effects, the significance of understanding and making employees and managers aware of the concept, taking actions to prevent them is vital.

The idea that by the help and contributions of researchers to understand the facts, frequently faced mobbing actions and its affects can guide practitioners to both prevent possible psychological violations and find ways to heal previously exposed mobbing victims in order to construct a healthier and productive work place and a society. The aim of this study is to review the empirical studies in Turkey to understand the general run of events in Turkey and provide a synthesis of the mobbing studies in Turkey to reveal the nomological network of the concept in all facets of and put forth the necessary future cautions and prevention methods. Thus, after this brief introduction, in the second section  the literature review is given, third part covers the mobbing studies in Turkey and the fourth part covers methodology; fifth section concludes this study.

LITERATURE REVIEW

After Leymann became ascertain in the psychological violations at work, he developed a typology consists of 45 different items in 5 categories to define the mobbing behaviors: (1) attacks on the victim’s communication (e.g. to get no possibility to communicate, and verbal threats), (2) attacks on the victim’s social contacts (e.g. isolated in a room, peers not talking with you anymore), (3) attacks on the victim’s reputation (e.g. gossiping, making fun of the way victim talk or walk), (4) attacks on the victim’s professional life (e.g. meaningless tasks or no tasks at all), (5) attacks on the victim’s physical health (e.g. given dangerous work tasks, threaten physically or sexual harassment). Vartia’s (1993) grouping was (1) slander, (2) social isolation, (3) giving a person too few or overly simple tasks, (4) threatening or criticizing, (5) physical violence and threat of violence, and (6) insinuations about the victim’s mental health. Rayner and Hoel (1997) grouped the mobbing behaviors as follows: (1) threat to professional status (e.g. belittling opinion, public professional humiliation, and accusation regarding lack of effort); (2) threat to personal standing (e.g. name-calling, insults, intimidation, devaluing with reference to age); (3) isolation (e.g. preventing access to opportunities, physical or social isolation, withholding of information); (4) overwork (e.g. undue pressure, impossible deadlines, unnecessary disruptions); and (5) destabilization (e.g. failure to give credit when due, meaningless tasks, removal of responsibility, repeated reminders of blunders, setting up to fail).

Thus, mobbing behaviors can be thought as direct and indirect: Direct behaviors include verbal declarations in order to stigmatize and belittling the victims. The indirect behaviors cannot be easily proven to others in the workplace setting even though the victim is well aware of and suffering from these harassments (Ozen, 2007). By evaluating several studies, Zapf, Knorz and Kulla (1996) concluded that it is most likely for a mobber to choose a victim in a weaker power position, also called downward mobbing; but there are also cases that cannot be undervalued that choosing someone in the same power structure which is also called horizontal mobbing, and less likely seen one, upward mobbing in which a mobber choose a victim from a higher power position cannot be ignored.      

It can be said that there are three factors can be thought as the reason(s) for the existence of mobbing situations at work: mobbing victim, mobber, and the organization. Leymann and Gustafsson (1996)  was totally against the idea to take the mobbing victim’s personality as a trigger for mobbing situation; indeed, he insists if any change has happened in the victim’s personal trait, this was the result of the mobbing process. On the other hand, it is actually stated in a study that the victims being exposed to mobbing behaviors once or more than once before, are feeling less self-confidence than the first-time victims (Vartia, 2001).  As mentioned in the study of Matthiesen and Einarsen (2007), Olweus (2003) labels the victims as passive and submissive and this trait signals to others that they are insecure and worthless individuals who will not retaliate if they are attacked or insulted. It is also argued that the irritated behaviors of provocative victims, thought as experienced mobbing in early ages or at the previous work, provoke the mobber (Matthiesen and Einarsen, 2007). As opposed to Olweus, Gates (2004) define the victims as good performers, intelligent, competent and creative people who can be dangerous for less successful peers (Tigrel and Kokalan, 2009). Being in a salient position, being low on social competence, and self-assertiveness as well as overachievement and high conscientiousness of the victim are given as antecedents to contribute the mobbing behavior (Zapf and Einarsen, 2003). According to Huber (1994), there are four personality traits for mobbing victims: (1) a lonely person: e.g. only one woman surrounded by men in an office or vice versa, (2) a bizarre person: e.g. not socialized, somehow different from others such as outfit, handicapped or foreigner, (3) a successful person: e.g. rate-busters, (4) a new-comer: e.g. being  a target just because of being enchanting, or being replaced to a loved one in the office (Tinaz, 2006). The victim’s characteristic is especially important on how she/he perceives the mobbing behaviors or on how to react. One can think of the situation as a result of envy to his/her success, poor structure of the organization and bad luck; whereas the other can conclude the reasons for mobbing behaviors are just the private life, external appearance, religious or political tendencies and try to explain the behavior by the mobbers characteristics (Ozen, 2007).

Although there is a lack in explaining the mobbers’ characteristics because of the data gathered from the victims and those reflect their perceptions on mobbers, there are some studies can lighten up the subject. In their study Zapf, Knorz and Kulla (1996), found that mobbers are often not aware of what they are doing because of not knowing the exact consequences of their actions.  Motive to protect self-esteem, lack of social competencies, and micropolitically motivated behaviors – internal rivalry/competition in the workplace, not clearly defined work tasks and responsibilities, and poor organizational structure are given as the contributors of the mobbing behavior (Matthiesen and Einarsen,2007; Einarsen et al., 2003). Tinaz (2006) divides mobbers’ personal traits into five categories: narcissists, furious, dissembler, megalomaniac, frustrated. In Vartia’s (1996) study states that competition for superior’s favor and approval are also most often perceived as reasons for mobbing, thus brownnoser characteristic may also be thought in the personal traits. There are four reasons that the mobber having one or more traits above channels his/her efforts to disturb the victim: to keep them in line with the organizational norms (stick to the rules or make them leave the company); enjoying to act maliciously (try to eliminate successful ones at workplace); to overcome boredom (sadistic fun), prejudicial attitude (ethnicity, religion, or just being resembled to one the mobber dislikes can make you a target) (Yuceturk, 2002).

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There are oppositions and arguments on the subject that whether there are common traits of the mobbing victim and mobber but dominant affects of organization and managerial factors’ on mobbing behaviors are commonly agreed. Leymann (1996) shows how an organization becomes the main source of such behaviors: poor conflict management and poor communication- e.g. after a conflict arise, consider a manager ignores the problem and allow the gossip turn around, and even chooses side; lack in procedural and cultural structure- e.g. administering no punish to the mobber and letting the victim alone fosters to further similar situations. Changing nature of ...

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