'First, Do No Harm': The Role of Negative Emotions and Moral Disengagement in Understanding the Relationship Between Workplace Aggression and Misbehavior

Outcomes of Aggression and Victimization in Social Welfare Services

This study examined two significant phenomena that occur in the workplace, aggression and victimization, and their outcomes. The study's participants were 470 social workers employed by social welfare services in Israel. The examined outcomes were stress symptoms, emotional exhumation, and decline in quality of service climate. The associations between aggression, victimization, and their outcomes were examined via linear regression during Stata 14. The study found that the similar outcomes of aggression and victimization are stress symptoms and emotional exhaustion, while service climate (decline in quality) was associated only with victimization. While most studies have examined mainly victimization outcomes, the current study examined both aggression and victimization outcomes. This article sheds light on the similarities and the difference of outcomes between aggression and victimization and explicates the phenomena of workplace aggression from two important and complementary aspects of aggression and victimization. It is important to refer to either aggression or victimization while considering workplace aggression. Authors recommend for further studies to continue to investigate both aggression and victimization while researching workplace aggression outcomes.

Psychological distress symptoms in nurses and their intention to leave: A cross-sectional secondary data analysis

AIM

This study aimed to examine the psychological symptoms of distress among nurses in relation to their intention to leave.

DESIGN

This study was a secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey collected between November 2020 and March 2021.

METHODS

Chi-square was used to examine the associations between the demographic characteristics and intention to leave and psychological distress symptoms-feeling depressed, anxious and worried. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to examine if work settings, position (staff, charge, administrators, educators/researchers and advanced practice registered nurses) and years of experience were associated with psychological distress and intention to leave. A mediation analysis examined if psychological distress mediated the relationship between years of experience and intention to leave.

RESULTS

Overall, psychological distress was significantly positively associated with intention to leave and negatively associated with years of experience. Nurses with less than 2 years of experience had increased psychological distress, while nurses with >25 years of experience had decreased psychological distress. Both groups of nurses had increased intention to leave compared to those with 16-25 years of experience. Psychological distress partially mediated intention to leave in nurses with less than 2 years of experience and more so among nurses with >25 years of experience.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that nurses encounter psychological distress symptoms, such as feeling anxious, depressed and worried, that contribute to an increased intention to leave. Among the workplace locations, nurses practicing in nursing homes had the highest intention to leave.

IMPACT

The study emphasizes that organizations need to focus on mitigating distress across all levels of nurses to promote retention efforts and intention to stay.

REPORTING METHOD

The authors adhered to the STROBE guidelines.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient contribution. Completion of the survey in the original study (NWWS) implied consent from the participating nurses.

Ineffective kintsugi: The detrimental contribution of emotional and cognitive factors on psychological contract breach outcomes

BACKGROUND

The literature acknowledges that when there is a failure of expectations in the organization-employee relationship, namely the Psychological Contract Breach, it can potentially contribute to deviant behavior such as Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB). A justice perspective helps to disentangle this link by suggesting that unethical behaviors may represent the revenge response to perceived organizational unfairness.

OBJECTIVE

To gain a more granular understanding of the pathway from Psychological Contract Breach to CWB, this study explores the mediating role of negative emotions in eliciting CWB. It also proposes that the mechanism of moral disengagement helps to deactivate self-sanctioning processes, allowing individuals to engage in deviant behaviors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional design was employed, and conditional process analysis was conducted on a sample of 635 Italian police officer cadets, who were entering the prison system, a context highly susceptible to a failure of expectations and where, at the same time, counteracting unethical behaviors is a key issue.

RESULTS

The results supported the tested model, highlighting the mediator role of Job-Related Negative Emotions in the Psychological Contract Breach-CWB relationship and their interaction with Moral Disengagement in shaping CWB.

CONCLUSIONS

By examining the interplay between affective and cognitive components, the study provides valuable insights into the underlying processes involved in the relationship between failure in expectancies and deviant behavior. From a managerial perspective, the findings emphasize the importance of prioritizing fairness within organizations through balanced mutual obligations, and raising awareness of moral regulation mechanisms that may shape deviant behaviors.

The impact of workplace violence on job burnout among Chinese correctional officers: the chain mediating effects of stress and insomnia

BACKGROUND

The risk of workplace violence and job burnout among Chinese correctional officers is high. Stress and insomnia may influence the relationship between workplace violence and job burnout; however, this influence has been rarely studied. This study aimed to explore the effect of workplace violence on job burnout among Chinese correctional officers and to assess the contribution of stress and insomnia to this effect.

METHODS

In this study, the workplace violence scale, the Assens insomnia scale, the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey scale were used to assess the workplace violence, insomnia, stress, and job burnout experienced by the 472 correctional officers, respectively.

RESULTS

The results showed that (1) workplace violence was significantly and positively predictive of job burnout, (2) workplace violence affected job burnout through the mediation of stress, (3) workplace violence affected job burnout through the mediation of insomnia, and (4) stress and insomnia played fully interlocking mediating roles in the effect of workplace violence on job burnout.

CONCLUSION

Stress and insomnia may play a full mediating role in the relationship between workplace violence and job burnout. This suggested that correctional officers may take measures to reduce stress and improve insomnia, thereby reducing their job burnout. Further research may focus on the development of effective interventions to reduce stress and improve insomnia among correctional officers.

Workplace Bullying in Italy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Within any work environment, employees may be affected by "workplace bullying", a form of violent and repeated social behavior towards subordinates and colleagues. This review aimed to investigate the prevalence of bullied workers in Italy, the causes of the phenomenon, and the consequences at physical, psychological, and organizational levels.

METHODS

We included observational studies and systematic reviews examining the prevalence of bullied workers and the causes and consequences in Italian workplaces. Data extraction and analysis were performed on all included studies. The research strategy included three electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science). A comprehensive search was done to retrieve articles based on a PRISMA-compliant protocol registered in PROSPERO: CRD 42023394635.

RESULTS

One hundred eighty-four articles were retrieved, and once duplicates and irrelevant articles were removed, 42 useful articles were reviewed. The mean pooled prevalence, calculated based on workers complaining of mistreatment, was 6.7% (SD: 4,09) and increased significantly to 17.0% (SD: 12.88) when considering only healthcare workplaces. Causes include how impaired mental health and high workload reinforce the possibility of being bullied in the workplace, resulting in a worsening of the worker's quality of life (physical and psychological) and the work organization with increased absenteeism and job changes.

CONCLUSIONS

Workplace bullying is a very present phenomenon within workplaces in Italy. In light of this, it is necessary to put prevention plans in place and find solutions to maintain optimal organizational well-being in the work environment.

A narrative review of the physiology and health effects of burnout associated with veterinarian-pertinent occupational stressors

Chronic workplace stress and burnout are serious problems in veterinary medicine. Although not classified as a medical condition, burnout can affect sleep patterns and contributes to chronic low grade systemic inflammation, autonomic imbalance, hormonal imbalances and immunodeficiencies, thereby increasing the risks of physical and psychological ill health in affected individuals. Cultural misconceptions in the profession often lead to perceptions of burnout as a personal failure, ideas that healthcare professionals are somehow at lower risk for suffering, and beliefs that affected individuals can or should somehow heal themselves. However, these concepts are antiquated, harmful and incorrect, preventing the design of appropriate solutions for this serious and growing challenge to the veterinary profession. Veterinarians must first correctly identify the nature of the problem and understand its causes and impacts before rational solutions can be implemented. In this first part of two companion reviews, burnout will be defined, pathophysiology discussed, and healthcare and veterinary-relevant occupational stressors that lead to burnout identified.

Associations of Workplace Violence With Cardiovascular Disease Among United States Workers: Findings From a National Survey

OBJECTIVES

Recent research indicates a potential association between workplace violence and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the working-age population. However, the relevant evidence in the United States is sparse. Thus, this study was conducted to explore the possible relationship between workplace violence and CVD among United States workers.

METHODS

We utilized cross-sectional data from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey, which included a representative sample of 18 380 workers, to investigate the associations between workplace violence and the prevalence of CVD using logistic regression. Workplace violence was determined based on self-reported threats, bullying, or harassment at work over the past 12 months, supplemented with additional information regarding frequency. CVD included all forms of heart disease and stroke.

RESULTS

A total of 1334 workers reported experiences of workplace violence, and 1336 workers were diagnosed with CVD. After adjustment for covariates, participants who reported any instance of workplace violence had significantly higher odds of having CVD (odds ratio [OR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35 to 2.30) than those who reported no such violence. Furthermore, the highest odds of CVD (OR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.23 to 2.63) were observed among those frequently exposed to workplace violence. Even occasional exposure to workplace violence was associated with 74% excess odds of CVD.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study indicates an association between workplace violence and CVD in United States workers, exhibiting a dose-response pattern.

How do compulsory citizenship behaviors affect moral disengagement in organizations? Significance of anger toward the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

With the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals, especially nurses, are confronted with an intensified workload. The literature on compulsory citizenship behaviors and their consequences is still far from explaining the cognitive and emotional mechanisms that underlie this relationship.

Methods

Drawing on the resource depletion theory, we unpack the mechanism by which compulsory citizenship behaviors influence moral disengagement with the mediation effects of anger toward the organization. We are reporting a cross-sectional survey of nurses (n = 294) in private and public hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey. The data analysis involved structural equation modeling and Bayesian mediation.

Results

The study revealed that compulsory citizenship behaviors positively influenced anger toward the organization and moral disengagement. Further, anger toward the organization mediates the link between compulsory citizenship behaviors and moral disengagement. Likewise, the Bayesian mediation analysis indicated that the proportion mediated (PM), which ensures a prediction of the extent to which the pathway explains the total effect through the mediation effect, was 33.74%.

Conclusion

The findings show that exposure to compulsory citizenship behaviors lead to negative emotional (anger toward to organization) and cognitive (moral disengagement) consequences in nurses.

Practical implications

Hospital managers should not force nurses to display discretionary work tasks outside their job descriptions. Providing an organizational milieu where voluntarily extra-role behaviors are encouraged may help reduce nurses' moral disengagement and, in turn, ease their anger toward the organization.

Providing Solution in an Emergency: COVID-19 and Voice Behavior of Healthcare Professionals

This study investigates the mechanism between idiosyncratic deals (I-deals) and voice behavior, considering display aggression and deontic justice as mediating variables. We collected data from 702 nurses and their immediate supervisors who work with COVID-19 patients through survey questionnaires at two different times, and we analyzed the data using structural equation modeling (SEM). We found that I-deals are significantly associated with deontic justice and voice behavior. Moreover, I-deals are significant but negatively associated with displayed aggression, which is significant and negatively associated with voice behavior. In addition, deontic justice and display aggression mediate the association between I-deals and voice behavior. These findings suggest that the hospitals' top management should provide I-deals to nurses to improve their voice behavior.

Workplace violence in healthcare settings: The risk factors, implications and collaborative preventive measures

Violence at work refers to acts or threats of violence directed against employees, either inside or outside the workplace, from verbal abuse, bullying, harassment, and physical assaults to homicide. Even though workplace violence has become a worrying trend worldwide, the true magnitude of the problem is uncertain, owing to limited surveillance and lack of awareness of the issue. As a result, if workplace violence, particularly in healthcare settings, is not adequately addressed, it will become a global phenomenon, undermining the peace and stability among the active communities while also posing a risk to the population's health and well-being. Hence, this review intends to identify the risk factors and the implications of workplace violence in healthcare settings and highlight the collaborative efforts needed in sustaining control and prevention measures against workplace violence.

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Workplace violence needs to be addressed more comprehensively, involving shared responsibilities from all levels.

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Emphasis on healthcare management's commitment, assurance, and clearly defined policy, reporting procedures, and training.

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The healthcare workers' commitment to update their awareness and knowledge regarding workplace violence.

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The provision of technical support and assistance from professional organizations, NGOs, and the community.

Socially Responsible human resource management and employees' turnover intention: the effect of psychological contract violation and moral identity

This study explores the impact of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM) on the turnover intention by exploring the effects of psychological contract violation (PCV) and moral identity. Using a sample of 284 employees in China, we found that PCV mediated the negative relationship between SR-HRM and turnover intention. Moral identity moderated the direct effect of PCV on turnover intention as well as the indirect effect of SR-HRM on turnover intention via PCV, such that both the direct and indirect effects were stronger for employees with a low level of moral identity compared to those with the high level of moral identity. Findings from this study provide a greater understanding of the internal mechanisms and boundary conditions of SR-HRM that affect turnover intentions. Study findings also provide guidance to organizations seeking to reduce employee turnover.

Does bad gossiping trigger for targets to hide knowledge in morally disengaged? New multi-level insights of team relational conflict

Purpose

Despite the recent extending research on knowledge hiding, there is still scant research on social stressor phenomena-related contextual antecedent factors and new cognitive mechanisms of knowledge hiding behaviors. To shed new light on this unexplored gap, this research explores the multi-level moderated mediation model that examines how and when negative gossip experienced by targets in the workplace induces their knowledge hiding from coworkers drawing from the lens of social learning and cognitive theories. More specifically, this study aims to evaluate the relationship between negative workplace gossip and knowledge hiding via moral disengagement, and this mediation effect is also moderated by team relational conflict as a novel boundary condition.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collected multi-wave 338 employees’ data from 68 teams of cross-sectional industries in China, which were nested within teams. The collected nested nature data were analyzed by employing multi-level analysis based on hierarchical linear modeling.

Findings

The results suggested that negative workplace gossip first triggers moral disengagement and thereby, leads to knowledge hiding. Furthermore, the direct positive association between negative workplace gossip and moral disengagement was strengthened by increasing intra-team relational conflict. In addition, the mediation effect of moral disengagement between negative workplace gossip and knowledge hiding was also strengthened through increasing intra-team relational conflict.

Originality/value

This study first empirically examines the multi-level model using a new underlying mechanism (moral disengagement) and team-level boundary condition (relational conflict) and enriches the current literature on knowledge management and workplace gossip. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings and future research lines are also discussed, which will facilitate practitioners and academicians to curb counterproductive knowledge behavior.

A call for transformation: Exit, Voice, Loyalty and Neglect (EVLN) in response to workplace incivility

BACKGROUND

Interrelations between incivility and its precursors or consequences, as well as the role of these interrelations in employees' reactions to incivility are still poorly understood.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the present study was to assess different reactions to workplace incivility while identifying specific and individual-based appraisals and emotions associated with these reactions.

METHOD

A qualitative research approach using semi-structured in-depth interviews, with a sample of 42 employees in a beverage manufacturing corporation in Israel to capture employees' voices regarding their incivility experiences.

RESULTS

Analysis of the interviews indicated four reaction-categories: (1) Exit; (2) Voice; (3) Loyalty; and (4) Neglect, in line with the theoretical EVLN model for describing reactions to stressful conditions. In particular, the interviews revealed a dynamic reaction process and suggested that intentionality of reaction provides a third, new dimension. Additionally, an underlying emotional process rooted in appraisals and aroused emotions was evident in each of the reactions.

CONCLUSIONS

Organizations that wish to reduce incivility events may wish to examine the emotions of targets of incivility, explore the underlying appraisals associated with these emotions, and be mindful of the dynamic and highly individual reaction processes involved.

Transformational Leadership, Ethical Leadership, and Participative Leadership in Predicting Counterproductive Work Behaviors: Evidence From Financial Technology Firms

Counterproductive work behaviors are a crucial issue for practice and academic because it influences employees’ job performance and career development. The present research conceptualizes Kahn’s employee engagement theory and employs transformational leadership, ethical leadership, and participative leadership as its antecedents to predict counterproductive work behaviors through a latent growth model. The present research collected empirical data of 505 employees of fintech businesses in Great China at three waves over 6 months. The findings revealed that as employees perceived higher transformational leadership, ethical leadership, and participative leadership at the first time point, they may demonstrate more positive growths in employee engagement development behavior, which in turn, caused more negative growths in counterproductive work behaviors. The present research stresses a dynamic model of the three leaderships that can alleviate counterproductive work behaviors through the mediating role of employee engagement over time.

Becoming morally disengaged: how long does it take?

Purpose

Leadership is a time-dependent process and a recent leadership research trend posits a central role of time-based variables. The dyadic tenure plays a keystone role in understanding leader–follower dynamics, especially as regards leader ethics. In line with this, from a social learning theory perspective, the authors propose a model that explains how and when ethical leaders' behaviors influence subordinates' moral disengagement.

Design/methodology/approach

With a sample of 220 employees, the present study tests the conditional indirect effect of ethical leadership on followers' moral disengagement via instrumental ethical climate (IEC), using dyadic tenure as the moderator variable. The analyses were conducted with Hayes PROCESS macro.

Findings

Results suggested that IEC fully mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and moral disengagement. Thus, when followers perceive low levels of ethical leadership, they notice higher levels of IEC, which is positively related to moral disengagement. However, IEC perception only influences moral disengagement when dyadic tenure approaches the third year.

Originality/value

This paper answers calls to include time-based variables in leadership studies. Hence, using dyadic tenure, this study gives support to previous propositions that were still awaiting empirical test.

The moderating role of rumination and social sharing in the relationship between mistreatment and service sabotage and depersonalization: A cross-sectional study of hospital nurses

BACKGROUND

Research has consistently shown that service sabotage is most often an act of retaliation motivated by customer mistreatment. To date, however, service sabotage has seldom been studied among nurses.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the impact of mistreatment by patients and relatives on service sabotage and depersonalization among nurses and explore the moderating role of two emotion-regulation strategies, rumination and social sharing, in the relationships between mistreatment and both outcomes.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from nurses working in a mid-size general hospital in Northern Israel. The sample consisted of 217 nurses. Data were collected using self-reported anonymous questionnaires and analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression.

RESULTS

More than a quarter of the nurses surveyed reported frequent exposure to mistreatment by patients or relatives, and 26.4% reported engaging in sabotage acts occasionally or often. Findings demonstrated that both social sharing and rumination were strategies that were frequently employed following mistreatment. Mistreatment and rumination significantly predicted both service sabotage and depersonalization. The results further revealed that rumination exacerbated the effect of mistreatment on service sabotage and that social sharing increased the impact of mistreatment on depersonalization. Rumination also moderated the relationship between social sharing and service sabotage, such that social sharing was positively associated with service sabotage only among nurses who tended to ruminate more frequently.

CONCLUSIONS

This study contributes to the existing literature by pointing out that when encountering aggressive patients, nurses may engage in revenge seeking behavior in the form of service sabotage, and that not only rumination but also social sharing may intensify the negative effects of mistreatment. Social sharing can become an especially maladaptive coping strategy for individuals who tend to engage in high levels of rumination. The present findings underscore the necessity to further explore the moderating role of emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between mistreatment and work outcomes, and to clarify the conditions under which nurses might tend to engage in acts of sabotage directed at patients.

Incivility and Clinical Performance, Teamwork, and Emotions: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Incivility has been identified as a common occurrence in health care settings. While anecdotal evidence exists that these behaviors negatively impact patient care, more robust evidence is lacking.

PURPOSE

This randomized controlled trial investigated the effects of exposure to incivility on clinical performance, teamwork, and emotions.

METHODS

Teams of nurses were randomly assigned to a control or experimental group. The experimental group was exposed to incivility. Both groups were then prompted to perform basic life support on a high-fidelity manikin. Teams were scored on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performance and teamwork. Individuals completed measures of affect and a cognitive test.

RESULTS

There were no differences in CPR, cognitive or teamwork scores, or emotional state. However, 66% of the experimental group had a major error in their CPR performance. None of the control groups made the same error.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support anecdotal evidence that exposure to incivility may contribute to errors in clinical performance.

An Economic Model of Optimal Penalty for Health Care Workplace Violence

This article provides an economic model on the optimal penalty of health care workplace violence based on health care workplace classification and cost structure, aiming to deter potential offenders. By developing an EIP (externality, identifiability, and preventability) analytical method, we distinguish the characteristics of different workplaces and find that the health care workplace is the combination of externality, low identifiability, and low preventability. Besides the private cost to victims for ordinary workplace violence, the cost structure of health care workplace violence includes social costs like externality-related public safety cost, defensive medicine cost, and specific factors cost. When the optimal penalty corresponding to different levels of health care workplace violence increases, the threshold level of punishable violence decreases after incorporating the social costs into analysis. Our model shows that public safety costs are positively correlated with the importance of health care workplace in the service network, and a higher public safety cost should be matched with a greater optimal penalty.

Addressing Risks of Violence against Healthcare Staff in Emergency Departments: The Effects of Job Satisfaction and Attachment Style

Violence in the workplace is one of the most serious issues affecting the healthcare sector. The incidence of violent behaviour towards healthcare workers is increasing worldwide. It is difficult to assess the extent of the problem, however, as violent incidents are underreported. In fact, many doctors and nurses see violence-perpetrated primarily by patients and visitors (friends and relatives of patients)-as a part of their job. Several studies indicate that violent behaviour against healthcare workers has serious consequences for the professionals involved, as well as for the wider healthcare system. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of patient and visitor violence in a number of emergency departments in northeastern Italy and to explore the relationship between violence and certain psychosocial factors (adult attachment style, age, and job satisfaction). Data were collected using an online questionnaire. Our results demonstrate that patient and visitor violence in emergency departments is a serious risk for nurses and doctors and that it is affected by several factors relating to both patient pathologies and the way the workplace and work patterns are organised. Previous studies indicate that the most common form of violence experienced in these contexts is emotional violence and that nurses are more likely than doctors to suffer emotional and physical violence. Based on multiple regression analysis of the data, it appears that greater age and higher scores in secure attachment are associated with reduced experience of emotional violence from patients and visitors. Furthermore, our results show that the relationship between secure attachment and the amount of patient-and-visitor-perpetrated emotional violence experienced is mediated by levels of job satisfaction. We also discuss the potential implications of these results in terms of using staff training to prevent and manage patient and visitor violence and improve the safety of healthcare professionals.