Workplace Bullying in the Portuguese Banking Sector: Incidence Levels and Risk Groups

This study aims to analyze the incidence rate of workplace bullying in the Portuguese banking sector and to shed light on the most frequent bullying behaviors encountered in this understudied setting. In line with the idea of “powerlessness,” these aspects are contrasted in terms of gender and organizational position. A questionnaire-based survey using two different but complementary strategies was conducted, to measure both the subjective perception of workplace bullying and the objective dimension of the concept. Results (N = 561) showed an incidence rate of 5.9% targets of bullying, according to the self-labeling method. Following the two-act criterion, 23.4% of the targets were found through the behavioral experience method. The respondents who indicated to be a target of bullying based on the self-labeling method reported mainly work-related negative acts (e.g., being exposed to an unmanageable workload, their opinions and views are ignored and their work is excessively monitored) in the behavioral experience method. In contrast to our expectations, not the bottom staff but the middle and top managers were mostly exposed to bullying acts. Regarding gender, men were more at risk of being a target of bullying behaviors at work than women, contrary to our hypothesis and to the general idea in the literature. In addition, there was an interaction effect of position and gender in the prevalence of bullying. Although this study has limitations due to its focus exclusively in the banking sector, the findings seem to have important implications in terms of designing intervention policies. In addition, it provides new insights about workplace bullying in a sector and a country that has been largely absent from research carried out so far in Europe. Finally, the results challenge and contextualize the dominant idea in the literature that the weaker and defenseless worker is the most likely target of bullying.status: Published onlin