Abstract
Though limited, the extant international literature on the interface between significant others, such as family and friends, and workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment is not restricted to cross-domain spillovers where significant others are indirect targets, but encompasses evidence of families as perpetrators as well as direct targets of workplace mistreatment. In terms of spillover, significant others are found to support targets and bullies while mixed effects mark the relationship between significant others and targets and bullies. The spillover experiences of significant others are found to vary across the different family subsystems as well as between friends at and beyond work. Moreover, families either themselves bully their members due to/during the latter’s work or are complicit when their members are bullied by others at work. They also bully third parties whose work involves interacting with their members. Besides, families are directly targeted either by the same bully who mistreats their member at work or by the targets who are bullied by their member at work. This breadth of insights comes largely from literature revolving around targets and their significant others, though there are a few findings pertaining to bullies and their significant others. What is striking is the paradoxical role of significant others which simultaneously buffers targets yet adds to the strain. Suggestions for further research to deepen our understanding and then feed into suitable interventions are made.
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Pellegrini, P.G., Tolfo, S.d.R., Bolze, S.D.A., D’Cruz, P. (2021). The Interface Between Significant Others and Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment. In: D'Cruz, P., et al. Pathways of Job-related Negative Behaviour. Handbooks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, vol 2. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0935-9_15
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