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Witnessing bullying at work: Employee silence in higher education institutions

Mazzone, Angela orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-5858-8033, Karakolidis, Anastasios orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-7460-7759, Pitsia, Vasiliki orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-8172-0397, Freeney, Yseult orcid logoORCID: 0000-0002-0332-468X and Norman, James O’Higgins (2024) Witnessing bullying at work: Employee silence in higher education institutions. Higher Education Quarterly, 78 (3). 640 -655. ISSN 1468-2273

Abstract
Workplace bullying is a widespread phenomenon within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Employee tendency to remain silent is one of the most common reactions to workplace bullying. Yet, employee silence in the context of workplace bullying is poorly studied. Building on the Conservation of Resources Theory (COR) and the Learned Helplessness Theory (LHT), this study investigated employee reluctance to take action when witnessing workplace bullying (employee silence). The sample comprised 560 employees working in 20 HEIs in Ireland. Respondents filled out a survey measuring employee silence, victimisation, and team psychological safety. Results showed a negative association between team psychological safety and employee silence, indicating a reluctance to report bullying among respondents with low levels of team psychological safety. In line with the COR and the LHT, a positive association was found between victimisation and employee silence. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible actions for bullying prevention in HEIs.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Workplace bullying, psychological safety, employee silence, HEIs, higher education
Subjects:Business > Management
Business > Employee attitudes
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > DCU Business School
Publisher:John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Official URL:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/h...
Copyright Information:Authors
ID Code:32592
Deposited On:11 May 2026 10:13 by Tam Nguyen . Last Modified 11 May 2026 10:13
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