The Impact of the Cyber Workplace Bullying on Psychological Distress and Productivity

Abstract

Bullying in the workplace has been a common occurrence in the United States and with further development of technology, it has taken a new form through cyberspace. Cyberbullying at work has been less studied compared to in-person bullying at work but has also been shown to have detrimental personal and occupational effects. The current study explored the relationships between workplace cyberbullying, psychological distress, and productivity in forms of presenteeism and absenteeism from work. In addition, this study examined the mediation effect of psychological distress on the relationship between cyberbullying and productivity. To explore these relationships, an online survey through social media platforms and Amazon Mechanical Turk was administered to 124 participants who met inclusion criteria. While controlling for remote work, correlational analyses indicated workplace cyberbullying was related to relative presenteeism and psychological distress, not absenteeism. No relationships were found between psychological distress, presenteeism, and absenteeism. Psychological distress did not mediate the relationship between cyberbullying and presenteeism or absenteeism. Overall, cyberbullying at work predicted psychological distress; the more often a participant was bullied, they reported higher psychological distress and less performance compared to other workers in their position; psychological distress did not account for the relationship. Therefore, other mechanisms may need to be explored to account for the relationship between cyberbullying and performance. Lastly, findings in this study suggest employers should take measures to prevent cyberbullying at work.