Workplace bullying as sensemaking: An analysis of target and actor perspectives on initial hostile interactions

Katerina Zabrodska, Constance Ellwood, Sara Zaeemdar, Jiri Mudrak

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    28 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    This study explores the micro-level processes sustaining hostile workplace behaviour at the level of interactions between targets and actors. Drawing on Weick’s [1995. Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] sensemaking theory, the study examined how targets and actors of workplace bullying made sense of each other’s behaviours during first occasions of hostility. An analysis of collective biography stories of hostility in academia showed that targets experienced destabilisation of identity, positioned actors as arbiters of adequacy, and engaged in self-undermining. Actors’ stories revealed not only moral condemnation of targets, failure to recognise the injury caused, but also precarious emotions, which could have subverted harmful behaviours. Based on these findings, the authors argue that understanding target and actor sensemaking is vital since it appears to contribute to power differentials between the parties from the very onset of hostility, thus allowing it to escalate. The implications for the development of a sensemaking approach to workplace bullying and organisational intervention are discussed.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)136-157
    JournalCulture and Organization
    Volume22
    Issue number2
    Early online date18 Mar 2014
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 14 Mar 2016

    Keywords

    • collective biography
    • stories
    • workplace hostility
    • workplace bullying
    • actor
    • target
    • sensemaking

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