Workplace Bullying:A Review and Future Research Directions

Workplace bullying is a heavily researched topic in management research and is well examined in terms of its prevalence, antecedents, and outcomes. The other aspects of the bullying phenomenon, especially its process, theoretical underpinnings, underlying and intervening mechanisms have not received as much research attention. This study aims to provide a review on these less studied aspects of workplace bullying. The review is organized under the following five sub-themes: (i) bullying and similar other negative workplace phenomena; (ii) conceptualization; (iii) process; (iv) theories; and (v) mediators and moderators of bullying. Based on the extensive review of extant literature, future research directions in the domain of workplace bullying, such as the requirement of a universal definition, the need for better theoretical understanding, the requirement to examine antecedents and outcomes of workplace bullying at different levels, the role of gender, and the assessment of workplace bullying in a temporal context, among others, have been outlined.