The Effects of Bullying on the Social Learning Environment of the Workplace

Bullying in the workplace is gaining the attention of top-level executives and researchers as it drains company financial and managerial resources. The studies conducted focus on identifying bullying behavior, characteristic traits of bullies and their victims, environmental stresses that create a bullying atmosphere, and the lost productivity as an effect of bullying on the employee’s psychological wellbeing. The immaturity of this research topic suggests that by investigating the behavior and finding ways to govern and discipline those responsible for the behavior, it will taper. However, further investigative research on informal learning suggests a long-term effect on the workforce. This paper explores the effects of bullying on the social learning environment of the workplace.

Literature Review

Learning is like the air we breathe, it is natural, abundant, and happens everywhere. It has been the topic of intellectuals, scholars and researchers for over a hundred years. They have defined it, theorized about it, philosophized about it, argued about it, researched it, studied it, and governed it. They have determined how we learn, why we learn, and in what environments we learn the best. In this literature review, we will focus on social learning in the workplace and how bullying affects the learning environment, the learner, and the organization.

Workplace learning is different from the conventional or pedagogical style learning that we are accustomed to from birth. Learning in the workplace is “informal learning” (Ahlgren and Tett, 2010; Collis and Winnips, 2002; Eraut, 2004). Eraut (2004) describes informal learning as having more flexibility and significant social recognition than deliberate pedagogical learning...

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...British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(2), 133-148.

De Cuyper, N., Baillien, E., & De Witte, H. (2009). Job insecurity, perceived employability and targets' and perpetrators' experiences of workplace bullying. Work & Stress, 23(3), 206-224.

Eraut, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), 247-273.

Lovell, B. L., & Lee, R. T. (2011). Impact of Workplace Bullying on Emotional and Physical Well-Being: A longitudinal Collective Case Study. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Tramma, 20, 344-357.

Privitera, C., & Campbell, M. A. (2009). Cyberbullying: The New face of Workplace Bullying? CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(4), 395-400.

Samnani, A. (2013). The Early Stages of Workplace Bullying and How it Becomes Prolonged: The Role of Culture in Predicting Target Responses. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(1), 119-132.