What is interpersonal mistreatment in organisations and how do we measure it? – Bullying and the like

Workplace aggression is a hot topic in business and public forums and it comes in many forms – from workplace bullying, abusive supervision, to cyber bullying and sexual harassment. In the academic literature and in applied research these types of interpersonal mistreatment are often measured and considered separately to each other. Ruth’s PhD program of work investigates the commonality between types of workplace aggression, and what that means for theorization and measurement in this broad field of mistreatment behaviours.

In this mid-term review presentation, Ruth will present results and progress of her work to date, including:

Commonalities identified through a latent text analysis of four key constructs of interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace;
Appreciating the differences between respondents’ understanding and experiences of workplace aggression compared to researchers operationalisations of workplace aggression.
Adapting survey methodology to demonstrate co-occurrence of multiple types of interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace .

The research findings from Ruth’s work has direct implications for the theory and measurement of interpersonal misconduct and for planning intervention strategies to minimize incidents of workplace aggression. Ruth Beach has worked in organisational research since 1992. She has worked at the Graduate School of Management and the Sustainable Minerals Institute - both at the University of Queensland - on a wide array of organisational questions.

Ruth Beach has worked in organisational research since 1992. She has worked at the Graduate School of Management and the Sustainable Minerals Institute - both at the University of Queensland - on a wide array of organisational questions. While at the University of Queensland she gained her Masters of Management. Awarded by thesis, this work investigated the coping strategies of couples on Fly-in Fly-out work patterns. Ruth’s passion is to investigate complex problems in an applied setting to produce outcomes that support organisational change and personal wellbeing. Currently Ruth is employed by the Department of Defence.

Image credit Stuart Hay (ANU)