Cambridge Business Association
How to deal with being bullied at work
Article

How to deal with being bullied at work

You might understandably feel trapped and powerless, but there is a range of steps you can take to improve your situation

Pat Ferris
Psyche, 2024
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​Everyone experiences conflict and disagreements at work at some point or other. Perhaps your feelings get hurt, or you suffer a lapse of judgment that inadvertently hurts someone else’s feelings. These infrequent experiences are not tantamount to bullying. Bullying is persistent, intentional maliciousness that will leave you feeling intimidated, undermined and deflated. If you’ve been a victim of workplace bullying, this Psyche article by therapist and consultant Pat Ferris will give you some solid advice and help you feel stronger.

Summary

​​​​Workplace bullying involves repeated, offensive, malicious interactions in the workplace, and it affects around 20% of employees during the course of their career. 

Differing opinions, the occasional insensitive comment and even mild conflict are normal in any workplace. Workplace bullying is different; it is intentional nastiness that is marked by personal attacks and abuses of power. Bullying behaviors are unwelcome, recurrent, unreasonable and malicious, and research shows that they can cause harm to both mental and physical health.

If you’re on the receiving end of this kind of behavior, you’re not alone. Around one-fifth of employees experience workplace bullying at some point in their careers.

The blame lies solely with the aggressor, not with the victim.

A bully is usually depicted as a narcissistic person who feels threatened by the victim and so belittles and demeans to feel more powerful and in control. Meanwhile, the stereotype of a victim is that of a conscientious, capable employee with a strong sense of justice who doesn’t kowtow to organizational ...

About the Author

Therapist and consultant Pat Ferris is the co-author of Dignity and Inclusion at Work, a handbook that addresses workplace bullying. 

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