Exploring cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying in working life – Prevalence, targets and expressions

AbstractWhile cyberbullying among children and adolescents is a well-investigated phenomenon, few studies have centred on adults' exposure to cyberbullying in working life. Drawing on a large sample of 3371 respondents, this study investigates the prevalence of cyberbullying and face-to-face bullying in Swedish working life and its relation to gender and organisational position. Using a cyberbullying behaviour questionnaire (CBQ), the result shows that 9.7% of the respondents can be labelled as cyberbullied in accordance with Leymann's cut-off criterion. Fewer respondents, .7%, labelled themselves as cyberbullied and 3.5% labelled themselves as bullied face-to-face. While no significant relationships with gender or organisational position was found for individuals exposed to face-to-face bullying, this study showed that men to a higher degree than women were exposed to cyberbullying. Moreover, individuals with a supervisory position were more exposed to cyberbullying than individuals with no managerial responsibility