The dark side of working online: The rise of workplace cyberbullying

Purpose The introduction of new technologies created avenues for new forms of aggression. One obvious example is cyberbullying: aggression that intentionally and repeatedly takes place within an electronic context (Kowalski, Limber & Agatson, 2012). Cyberbullying amongst youngster has been the topic of contemporary research. In contrast, despite an impressive body of research on workplace bullying (Neall & Tuckey, 2014), studies in the work context have largely neglected its electronic counterpart. Studying workplace cyberbullying aligns with findings regarding the increased use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s) at work (McLennnan, 2008) and its link with violence (van den Bossche et al., 2013). More knowledge of how cyber-aggression at work evolves is therefore needed. The purpose of this study is to build a theoretical model of workplace cyberbullying in which potential antecedents, mediators and moderators are explored. Method Our model is build based on a literature study exploring the existing knowledge on workplace bullying, ICT’s in general and at work, cyberbullying amongst youngsters and cyber-aggression at work. First, we define workplace bullying and summarize knowledge about its predictors, moderators and mediators and why it is an important strain. Next, we probe into how ICT’s have influenced our (working) life and what possibilities and challenges they pose. We link this to the existing knowledge of emergence of workplace bullying and look at how ICT’s can contribute to or modify this aggression path. Further, we look at what is already known about the antecedents, mediators and moderators of cyberbullying amongst youngsters and from the few empirical studies on cyberbullying at work. This knowledge is integrated in our theoretical model of workplace cyberbullying. Results Making inferences from existing literature, we conclude that work stressors, such as role conflicts, interpersonal conflicts and procedural injustice, are an important antecedent of cyberbullying at work. Furthermore it seems that emotions, such as anger, sadness and fear, could play an important role in this stressor-strain relation. The virtual environment is one that offers an outlet for different emotions, while creating an electronic barrier that minimizes the awareness of the impact of online behavior. This has been described as the online disinhibition effect (Suller, 2004). Furthermore, the introduction of emotions in this process is in concordance with different theories such as the Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) and the Stressor Emotion Model (Spector & Fox, 2005), which predict that stressors at work elicit emotions which in their turn can give rise to counterproductive behavior. As our work environment evolves from a physical to increasingly virtual one, we believe that cyberbullying at work will have an increasing importance. Expansion of our knowledge of this phenomenon is therefore needed.status: publishe