Victim profile - more than one?

Posted by Ricki Sharpe on September 6, 2007  
Filed Under Work Behaviour

Do targets of workplace bullying portray a general victim personality profile? Until recently, previous research has concentrated on the extent of bullying, the effects of bullying and the trigger factors leading to episodes of bullying. Little research has focused upon personality as an explanation of why certain individuals are victims of workplace bullying and others are not.

New research is now emerging that implicates personality as a key indicator of those who are most likely to be bullied in the workplace.

Initially, results supported the concept of a consistent victim profile, that is, one size fits all. However, to the extent that different types of bullying exist (e.g., predatory versus dispute-related), it is reasonable to assume that different personality groups exist within the victim sample. For example, personality traits such as anxiety and introversion may be related to predatory bullying, while unreliable or untraditional individuals may provoke anger in others, and lead to dispute-related bullying.

In a recent study (Glaso, 2007) and consistent with earlier findings, significant differences emerged between victims and non-victims on four out of five personality dimensions. Victims tended to be more neurotic and less agreeable, conscientious and extrovert than non-victims.

However, a cluster analysis revealed that the victim sample could be divided into two personality groups. One cluster, which comprised 64% of the victim sample, did not differ from non-victims as far as personality is concerned. Hence, the results indicate that there is no such thing as a general victim personality profile.

A small second cluster of victims tended to be less extrovert, less agreeable, less conscientious, and less open to experience but more emotionally unstable than victims in the major cluster and the control group.

Further, both clusters of victims scored higher than non-victims on emotional instability, indicating that personality should not be neglected as being a factor in understanding the bullying phenomenon.

Nevertheless, personality does not easily differentiate targets from non-targets. Hence, the main focus when intervening in order to prevent bullying in organisations must be on organisational factors more than on the personality of victims.

Reference:

Glaso, L., Matthiesen, S. B., Nielsen, M. B., Einarsen, S. 2007. Do targets of workplace bullying portray a general victim personality profile? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 48, 313-319.


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