Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Creating a Family or Loyalty-Based Framework: The Effects of Paternalistic Leadership on Workplace Bullying

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prior research has demonstrated that issues in leadership problems can lead to both negative organisational outcomes and unethical practices at work, such as bullying and counterproductive behaviours. This study investigates the association of bullying with paternalistic leadership dimensions (i.e. creating family atmosphere at work, maintaining individualised relationships, non-work involvement, loyalty seeking and maintaining authority). Seven hundred and fifteen questionnaires were collected from employees in Turkish workplaces. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the bullying phenomenon and paternalistic leadership with respect to their dimensions. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that ‘expecting loyalty in exchange for nurture at work’ relates positively with the experience of bullying. In contrast, findings indicated a negative association between leadership involving ‘behaving like a senior family member at work’ and bullying. Plausible explanations of the findings were discussed by referring to relevant ethical climate literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ashforth, B.: 1994, ‘Petty Tyranny in Organisations’, Human Relations 47(7), 755-778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aycan, Z.: 2006, ‘Paternalism: Towards Conceptual Refinement and Operationalization’, in U. Kim, K. Yang, K. Hwang (eds.), Indigenous and Cultural Psychology (Springer, NY), pp. 445-467.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aycan, Z., R. N. Kanungo, M. Mendonca, K. Yu, J. Deller, G. Stahl and A. Khursid: 2000, ‘Impact of Culture on Human Resource Management Practices: A ten Country Comparison’, Applied Psychology: An International Review 49(1), 192-220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babiak, P. and R. D. Hare: 2006, Snakes in Suits When Psychopaths Go to Work (HarperCollins, New York).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjorkqvist, K., K. Osterman and M. Hjelt-Back: 1994, ‘Aggression among University Employees’, Aggressive Behaviour 20(3), 173-184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boddy, C. R.: 2006, ‘The Dark Side of Management Decisions: Organisational Psychopaths’, Management Decision 44(10), 1461-1475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulutlar, F. and E. Ü. Öz: 2009, ‘The Effects of Ethical Climates on Bullying Behaviour in the Workplace’, Journal of Business Ethics 86(3), 273-295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng, B., L. F. Chou, T. Y. Wu, M. Huang and J. Farh: 2004, ‘Paternalistic Leadership and Subordinate Responses: Establishing a Leadership Model in Chinese Organizations’, Asian Journal of Social Psychology 7(1), 89–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, J.: 2005, Working with Monsters. How to Identify and Protect Yourself from the Workplace Psychopath (Random House, Sydney).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen, J. B., K. P. Parboteeah and B. Victor: 2003, ‘The Effects of Ethical Climates on Organisational Commitment: A Two-Study Analysis’, Journal of Business Ethics 46(2), 127–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Cuyper, N., E. Baillien and H. De Witte: 2009, ‘Job Insecurity, Perceived Employability and Targets’ and Perpetrators’ Experiences of Workplace Bullying’, Work & Stress 23(3), 206-224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson, M. W., D. B. Smith, M. W. Grojean and M. Ehrhart: 2001, ‘An Organizational Climate regarding Ethics: The Outcome of Leader Values and the Practices That Reflect Them’, Leadership Quarterly 12(2), 197–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen, S.: 1999, ‘The Nature and Causes of Bullying at Work’, International Journal of Manpower 20(1/2), 16-27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen, S. and H. Hoel: 2006, Measuring Bullying and harassment in the workplace. Development and validity of the revised Negative Acts Questionnaire. A manual, University of Bergen, Bergen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen, S, H. Hoel, D. Zapf and C. L. Cooper: 2003, ‘The Concept of Bullying at Work: The European Tradition’, in S. Einarsen, H. Hoel, D. Zapf and C. L. Cooper (eds.), Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace (Taylor & Francis, London), pp. 3-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen, S., and B. I. Raknes: 1997, ‘Harassment in the Workplace and the Victimization of Men’, Violence and Victims 12(3), 247-263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen, S., B. I. Raknes and S. B. Matthiesen: 1994, ‘Bullying and Harassment at Work and their Relationships to Work Environment Quality: An Exploratory Study’, The European Work and Organizational Psychologist 4(4), 381-401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen, S. and A. Skogstad: 1996, ‘Bullying at Work: Epidemiological Findings in Public and Private Organizations’, European Work and Organizational Psychologist 5(2), 185-201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erben, G. S. and A. B. Guneser: 2008, ‘The Relationship between Paternalistic Leadership and Organizational Commitment: Investigating the Role of Climate Regarding Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 82(4), 955-968.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farh, J. L., and B. S. Cheng: 2000, ‘A Cultural Analysis of Paternalistic Leadership in Chinese Organisations’, in J. T. Li, A. S. Tsuni and E. Weldon (eds.), Management and Organisation in the Chinese Context (Macmillian, London), pp. 84-130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gelfand, M. J., M. Erez and Z. Aycan: 2007, ‘Cross-Cultural Approaches to Organisational Behaviour’, Annual Review of Psychology 58, 479-515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, M. G., M. R. Buckley, J. T. Heames, R. Zinko, R. L. Brouer and G. R. Ferris: 2007, ‘A Bully as an Archetypal Destructive Leader’, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies 14(2), 117-129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoel, H. and C. L. Cooper: 2000, ‘Destructive Conflict and Bullying at Work’, http://bullyinginstitute.org/research/res/umist.pdf. Retrieved 19 March 2008.

  • Hoel, H., L. Glaso, J. Hetland, C. L. Cooper and S. Einarsen: 2010, ‘Leadership Styles as Predictors of Self-reported and Observed Workplace Bullying’, British Journal of Management 21(2), 453-468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoel, H and D. Salin: 2003, ‘Organisational Antecedents of Workplace Bullying, in S. Einarsen, H. Hoel, D. Zapf and C. L. Cooper (eds.), Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace (Taylor & Francis, London), pp. 203-219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishmael, A., and B. Alemoru: 1999, Harassment, Bullying and Violence at Work (The Industrial Society, London).

    Google Scholar 

  • Keashly, L., and K. Jagatic: 2003, ‘By Any Other Name: American Perspectives on Workplace Bullying’, in S. Einarsen, H. Hoel, D. Zapf and C. L. Cooper (eds.), Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace (Taylor & Francis, London), pp. 3-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerfoot, C., and D. Knights: 1993, ‘Management, Masculinity and Manipulation: From Paternalism to Corporate Strategy in Financial Services in Britain’, Journal of Management Studies 30(4), 659-677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leymann, H.: 1996, ‘The Content and Development of Mobbing at Work’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 5(2), 165-184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, B.: 2000, ‘Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace’, Journal of Organizational Change Management 13, 401-447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, K. D. and J. B. Cullen: 2006, ‘Continuities and Extensions of Ethical Climate Theory: A Meta-Analytic Review’, Journal of Business Ethics 69(2), 175–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pasa, S., H. Kabasakal and M. Bodur: 2001, ‘Society, Organisations, and Leadership in Turkey’, Applied Psychology: An International Review 50(4), 559-589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pellegrini, E. K., and T. A. Scandura: 2008, ‘Paternalistic Leadership: A Review and Agenda for Future Research’, Journal of Management 34(3), 566-593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quine, L.: 1999, ‘Workplace Bullying in NHS Community Trust: Staff Questionnaire Survey’, British Medical Journal 318, 228-232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rayner, C. and C. L. Cooper: 2006, ‘Workplace Bullying, in E. K. Kelloway, J. Barling and J. J. Hurrell (eds.), Handbook of Workplace Violence (Sage, London), pp. 121-147..

    Google Scholar 

  • Salin, D.: 2009, ‘Organisational responses to workplace harassment: An exploratory study’, Personnel Review 38(1), 26-44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soylu, S.: 2009, ‘The Dark Side of Expecting Deference in Exchange for Care: The Relationship Between Paternalistic Leadership and Bullying in Turkish Workplaces’, in W. Scroggins, C. Gomez, P. G. Benson, R. L. Oliver and M. J. Turner (eds.), Celebrate the Tapestry: Diversity in the Modern Global Organization. Proceedings of the 10th International Human Resource Management Conference (Santa Fe, NM, USA), ISBN: 978-1-61584-212-4 (CD-ROM).

  • Vardi, Y.: 2001, ‘The Effects of Organisational and Ethical Climates on Misconduct at Work’, Journal of Business Ethics 29(4), 325–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vartia, M.: 1996, ‘The Sources of Bullying - Psychological Work Environment and Organizational Climate’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 5(2), 203-214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasti, S., H. H. Tan, H. H. Brower and Ç. Önder: 2007, ‘Cross-cultural Measurement of Supervisor Trustworthiness: An Assessment of Measurement Invariance Across three Cultures’, Leadership Quarterly 18(5), 477-489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf, D.: 1999, ‘Organisational, Work Group Related and Personal Causes of Mobbing/ bullying at Work’, International Journal of Manpower 20(1/2), 70-85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf, D. and S. Einarsen: 2001, ‘Bullying in the Workplace: Recent Trends in Research and Practice: An introduction’, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 10(4), 369-373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf, D. and S. Einarsen: 2003, ‘Individual Antecedents of Bullying: Victims and Perpetrators’, in S. Einarsen, H. Hoel, D. Zapf and C. L. Cooper (eds.), Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace (Taylor and Francis, London), pp. 165-185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zapf, D., S. Einarsen, H. Hoel and M. Vartia: 2003, ‘Empirical Findings on Bullying in the Workplace’, in S. Einarsen, H. Hoel, D. Zapf and C. L. Cooper (eds.), Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace (Taylor & Francis, London), pp. 103-127.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Economics, London, U.K.

    Soydan Soylu

Authors
  1. Soydan Soylu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Soydan Soylu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Soylu, S. Creating a Family or Loyalty-Based Framework: The Effects of Paternalistic Leadership on Workplace Bullying. J Bus Ethics 99, 217–231 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0651-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0651-6

Key words

Search

Navigation