Bullied men are more likely to leave the workplace

Research conducted by Aarhus University and the University of Copenhagen shows that men and women react to workplace bullying differently. Bullied men are more likely to leave the labor market for a period of time whereas women are more likely to take prolonged sick leave and an increased use of antidepressants.

Of the 3,000 respondents, 7% said they were subjected to workplace bullying. Of those bullied, 43% were men.

“It seems that men who are bullied are more likely than women to go to work even when they’re actually sick,” said Tine Mundberg Eriksen, the study’s author and assistant professor of business economics at Aarhus University in Denmark.

“It appears that bullying affects men’s salary level negatively, which indicates that the bullying hampers their opportunities for pay increases and promotions.”

The research shows that men are just as exposed to personal-related bullying as women but are slightly more exposed to physical intimidation. Studies have shown that workplace bullying is worse than threats and sexual harassment, with victims displaying symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2003, the organization “Lederne” determined that bullying costs approximately two million work days a year.

Poor relationships in the workplace reduce job satisfaction. Andrew E. Clark has written about job quality and job satisfaction. On the issue he says, “…job quality can increase worker productivity, as shown in both survey and experimental studies. Meta-analysis has revealed that job satisfaction and employee engagement are related to firm performance (which includes profitability, productivity, turnover, and absenteeism).”

Study available to read here.