Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Toxic Leadership and Workplace Bullying: The Role of Followers and Possible Coping Strategies

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being

Abstract

Toxic leaders and toxic leadership practices cause many problems for organizations and individuals. It has become apparent that such leaders consistently lead organizations to failure in the long run and hurt personal and health well-being of individuals. Within this context toxic leadership practices may also cause increase in workplace bullying behaviors among followers, and they play an important role on this relationship. They would be witness of the process, and they either vaguely accept or try to stop the process. However, if it does not stop, one of the possible solutions for victims may come from in the form of coping strategies. It is the argument that coping strategies may not be able stop abusive behavior of bullies but it helps victims to alleviate stress-related mental and health issues in the short and long term. This chapter looks for answers to the question that how under toxic leadership workplace bullying victims struggle and engage into coping strategies in order to reduce stress-related health and mental problems and what is the role of followers in this process if there is any.

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

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashforth B (1994) Petty tyranny in organizations. Hum Relat 47(7):755–778

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baillien E, Neyens I, De Witte H, De Cuyper N (2009) A qualitative study on the development of workplace bullying: towards a three-way model. J Community Appl Soc Psychol 19(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baillien E, De Cuyper N, De Witte H (2011) Job autonomy and workload as antecedents of workplace bullying: a two-wave test of Karasek’s Job Demand Control Model for targets and perpetrators. J Occup Organ Psychol 84(1):191–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baillien E, Griep Y, Vander Elst T, De Witte H (2019) The relationship between organisational change and being a perpetrator of workplace bullying: a three-wave longitudinal study. Work Stress 33(3):211–230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beirne M, Hunter P (2013) Workplace bullying and the challenge of pre-emptive management. Pers Rev 42(5):595–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein C, Trimm L (2016) The impact of workplace bullying on individual wellbeing: the moderating role of coping. SA J Hum Resour Manag 14(1):1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhandarker A, Rai S (2019) Toxic leadership: emotional distress and coping strategy. Int J Organ Theory Behav 22(1):65–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boddy CR, Ladyshewsky R, Galvin P (2010) Leaders without ethics in global business: corporate psychopaths. J Public Aff 10(3):121–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Branch S, Ramsay S, Barker M (2013) Workplace bullying, mobbing and general harassment: a review. Int J Manag Rev 15(3):280–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodsky CM (1976) The harassed worker. D. C. Heath & Co, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke RJ (2017) Toxic leaders: exploring the dark side. Eff Exec 20(1):10–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Carsten MK, Uhl-Bien M, West BJ, Patera JL, McGregor R (2010) Exploring social constructions of followership: a qualitative study. Leadersh Q 21(3):543–562

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Cruz P, Noronha E (2010) The exit coping response to workplace bullying: the contribution of inclusivist and exclusivist HRM strategies. Empl Relat 32(2):102–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dehue F, Bolman C, Völlink T, Pouwelse M (2012) Coping with bullying at work and health related problems. Int J Stress Manag 19(3):175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dewe P (2000) Measures of coping with stress at work: a review and critique. In: Dewe P, Leiter M, Cox T (eds) Coping, health and organizations. Taylor & Francis, London, pp 3–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewe PJ, O’Driscoll MP, Cooper CL (2010) Coping with work stress: a review and critique. Wiley, Chichester

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dobbs JM, Do JJ (2019) The impact of perceived toxic leadership on cynicism in officer candidates. Armed Forces Soc 45(1):3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollard M, Karasek R (2010) Building psychosocial safety climate: evaluation of a socially coordinated par risk management stress prevention study. In: Houdmont J, Leka S (eds) Contemporary occupational health psychology: global perspectives on research and practice. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp 208–233

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Dollard MF, Dormann C, Tuckey MR, Escartín J (2017) Psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and enacted PSC for workplace bullying and psychological health problem reduction. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 26(6):844–857

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S (1999) The nature and causes of bullying at work. Int J Manpow 20(1/2):16–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Nielsen MB (2015) Workplace bullying as an antecedent of mental health problems: a five-year prospective and representative study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 88(2):131–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Raknes BRI, Matthiesen SB (1994) Bullying and harassment at work and their relationships to work environment quality: an exploratory study. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 4(4):381–401

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Aasland MS, Skogstad A (2007) Destructive leadership behaviour: A definition and conceptual model. Leadersh Q 18(3):207–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Hoel H, Notelaers G (2009) Measuring exposure to bullying and harassment at work: validity, factor structure and psychometric properties of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised. Work Stress 23(1):24–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Skogstad A, Aasland MS (2010) The nature, prevalence, and outcomes of destructive leadership – a behavioral and conglomerate approach. In: Schyns B, Hansborough T (eds) When leadership goes wrong: destructive leadership, mistakes and ethical failures. Information Age Publishing, Chicago, pp 145–171

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Hoel H, Zapf D, Cooper CL (2011) The concept of bullying and harassment at work: the European tradition. In: Einarsen S, Hoel H, Zapf D, Cooper CL (eds) Bullying and harassment in the workplace: developments in theory, research, and practice, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 3–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen K, Mykletun RJ, Einarsen SV, Skogstad A, Salin D (2017) Ethical infrastructure and successful handling of workplace bullying. Nord J Work Life Stud 7(1):37–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Einarsen S, Skogstad A, Rørvik E, Lande ÅB, Nielsen MB (2018) Climate for conflict management, exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: a moderated mediation analysis. Int J Hum Resour Manag 29(3):549–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erickson A, Shaw B, Murray J, Branch S (2015) Destructive leadership – causes, consequences and countermeasures. Organ Dyn 4(44):266–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahie D (2019) The lived experience of toxic leadership in Irish higher education. Int J Workplace Health Manag, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-07-2019-0096

  • Fraher AL (2016) A toxic triangle of destructive leadership at Bristol Royal Infirmary: a study of organizational Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Leadership 12(1):34–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamian-Wilk M, Bjørkelo B, Madeja-Bien K (2017) Coping strategies to exposure to workplace bullying. Educ Forum 30(2):79–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner D, O’Driscoll M, Cooper-Thomas HD, Roche M, Bentley T, Catley B, Trenberth L (2016) Predictors of workplace bullying and cyber-bullying in New Zealand. Int J Environ Res Public Health 13(5):448–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glambek M, Skogstad A, Einarsen S (2018) Workplace bullying, the development of job insecurity and the role of laissez-faire leadership: a two-wave moderated mediation study. Work Stress 32(3):297–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glasø L, Matthiesen SB, Nielsen MB, Einarsen S (2007) Do targets of workplace bullying portray a general victim personality profile? Scand J Psychol 48(4):313–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen ÅM, Gullander M, Hogh A, Persson R, Kolstad HA, Willert MV, … Grynderup MB (2016) Workplace bullying, sleep problems and leisure-time physical activity: a prospective cohort study. Scand J Work Environ Health 42(1):26–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Heppell T (2011) Toxic leadership: applying the Lipman–Blumen model to political leadership. Representations 47(3):241–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodson R, Roscigno VJ, Lopez SH (2006) Chaos and the abuse of power: workplace bullying in organizational and interactional context. Work Occup 33(4):382–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoel H, Cooper CL, Faragher B (2001) The experience of bullying in Great Britain: the impact of organizational status. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 10(4):443–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoel H, Glasø L, Hetland J, Cooper CL, Einarsen S (2010) Leadership styles as predictors of self-reported and observed workplace bullying. Br J Manag 21(2):453–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogh A, Dofradottir A (2001) Coping with bullying in the workplace. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 10(4):485–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jóhannsdóttir HL, Ólafsson RF (2004) Coping with bullying in the workplace: the effect of gender, age and type of bullying. Br J Guid Couns 32(3):319–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson SL (2009) International perspectives on workplace bullying among nurses: a review. Int Nurs Rev 56(1):34–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser RB, Hogan R, Craig SB (2008) Leadership and the fate of organizations. Am Psychol 63(2):96–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karatuna I (2015) Targets’ coping with workplace bullying: a qualitative study. Qual Res Organ Manag 10(1):21–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keashly L, Harvey S (2006) Workplace emotional abuse. In: Kelloway E, Barling J, Hurrell J Jr (eds) Workplace bullying: a review. Thousand Oaks: CA, pp 297–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellerman B (2004) Bad leadership: what it is, how it happens, why it matters. Harvard Business Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Kieseker R, Marchant T (1999) Workplace bullying in Australia: a review of current conceptualisations and existing research. Aust J Manag Organ Behav 2(5):61–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Kivimäki M, Virtanen M, Vartia M, Elovainio M, Vahtera J, Keltikangas-Järvinen L (2003) Workplace bullying and the risk of cardiovascular disease and depression. Occup Environ Med 60(10):779–783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laschinger HKS, Fida R (2014) A time-lagged analysis of the effect of authentic leadership on workplace bullying, burnout, and occupational turnover intentions. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 23(5):739–753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leach LS, Poyser C, Butterworth P (2017) Workplace bullying and the association with suicidal ideation/thoughts and behaviour: a systematic review. Occup Environ Med 74(1):72–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis D, Gunn ROD (2007) Workplace bullying in the public sector: understanding the racial dimension. Public Adm 85(3):641–665

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leymann H (1990) Mobbing and psychological terror at workplaces. Violence Vict 5(2):119–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leymann H (1996) The content and development of mobbing at work. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 5(2):165–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leymann H, Gustafsson A (1996) Mobbing at work and the development of post-traumatic stress disorders. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 5(2):251–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipman-Blumen J (2005) The allure of toxic leaders: why followers rarely escape their clutches. Ivey Bus J 69(3):1–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipman-Blumen J (2010) Toxic leadership: a conceptual framework. In: Handbook of top management teams. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp 214–220

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lunsford LG, Padilla A (2015) Destructive and toxic leadership. In: O’Boyle I, Murray D, Cummins P (eds) Leadership in sport. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin WF (2008) Is your hospital safe? Disruptive behavior and workplace bullying. Hosp Top 86(3):21–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milosevic I, Maric S, Loncar D (2019) Defeating the toxic boss: the nature of toxic leadership and the role of followers. J Leadersh Org Stud. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051819833374

  • Murray D, Chua S (2015) What is leadership? In: O’Boyle I, Murray D, Cummins D (eds) Leadership in sport. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Namie G (2000) US hostile workplace survey, 2000: survey results. Available at: http://www.work placebullying.org/res/N-N-2000.pdf

  • Namie G (2007) The challenge of workplace bullying. Employ Relat Today 34(2):43–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neuman JH, Baron RA (2005) Aggression in the workplace: a social–psychological perspective. In: Fox S, Spector P (eds) Counterproductive work behaviors. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 13–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Niedl K (1996) Mobbing and well-being: economic and personnel development implications. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 5(2):239–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Einarsen S (2012) Outcomes of exposure to workplace bullying: a meta-analytic review. Work Stress 26(4):309–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Einarsen S (2018) What we know, what we do not know, and what we should and could have known about workplace bullying: an overview of the literature and agenda for future research. Aggress Violent Behav 42:71–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Matthiesen SB, Einarsen S (2010) The impact of methodological moderators on prevalence rates of workplace bullying: a meta-analysis. J Occup Organ Psychol 83:955–979

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Einarsen S, Notelaers G, Nielsen GH (2016a) Does exposure to bullying behaviors at the workplace contribute to later suicidal ideation? A three-wave longitudinal study. Scand J Work Environ Health 42(3):246–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Indregard AMR, Øverland S (2016b) Workplace bullying and sickness absence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the research literature. Scand J Work Environ Health 42(5):359–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Glasø L, Einarsen S (2017) Exposure to workplace harassment and the Five Factor Model of personality: a meta-analysis. Personal Individ Differ 104:195–206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen MB, Pallesen S, Harris A, Einarsen SV (2018) Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis of research on the associations between workplace bullying and sleep. Syst Rev 7(232):1–7

    Google Scholar 

  • Notelaers G, Baillien E, De Witte H, Einarsen S, Vermunt JK (2013) Testing the strain hypothesis of the Demand Control Model to explain severe bullying at work. Econ Ind Democr 34(1):69–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Notelaers G, Törnroos M, Salin D (2019) Effort-reward imbalance: a risk factor for exposure to workplace bullying. Front Psychol 10:1–5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Moore M, Seigne E, McGuire L, Smith M (1998) Victims of bullying at work in Ireland. J Occup Health Saf 14:569–574

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla A, Hogan R, Kaiser RB (2007) The toxic triangle: destructive leaders, susceptible followers, and conducive environments. Leadersh Q 18(3):176–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park JH, Ono M (2017) Effects of workplace bullying on work engagement and health: the mediating role of job insecurity. Int J Hum Resour Manag 28(22):3202–3225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park H, Bjørkelo B, Blenkinsopp J (2020) External whistleblowers’ experiences of workplace bullying by superiors and colleagues. J Bus Ethics 161(3):591–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulhus DL (2014) Toward a taxonomy of dark personalities. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 23(6):421–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulhus DL, Williams KM (2002) The dark triad of personality: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. J Res Pers 36(6):556–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelletier KL (2010) Leader toxicity: an empirical investigation of toxic behavior and rhetoric. Leadership 6(4):373–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsiadly A, Gamian-Wilk M (2017) Personality traits as predictors or outcomes of being exposed to bullying in the workplace. Personal Individ Differ 115:43–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayner C (1997) The incidence of workplace bullying. J Community Appl Soc Psychol 7(3):199–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayner C, Keashly L (2005) Bullying at work: a perspective from Britain and North America. In: Fox S, Spector PE (eds) Counterproductive work behavior: investigations of actors and targets. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 271–296. https://doi.org/10.1037/10893-011

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Reknes I, Einarsen S, Pallesen S, Bjorvatn B, Moen BE, Magerøy N (2016) Exposure to bullying behaviors at work and subsequent symptoms of anxiety: the moderating role of individual coping style. Ind Health 54(5):421–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez-Muñoz A, Moreno-Jiménez B, Sanz-Vergel AI (2015) Reciprocal relations between workplace bullying, anxiety, and vigor: a two-wave longitudinal study. Anxiety Stress Coping 28(5):514–530

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal SA, Pittinsky TL (2006) Narcissistic leadership. Leadersh Q 17(6):617–633

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salin D (2003) Ways of explaining workplace bullying: a review of enabling, motivating and precipitating structures and processes in the work environment. Hum Relat 56(10):1213–1232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schyns B, Schilling J (2013) How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes. Leadersh Q 24(1):138–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavanti M (2011) Managing toxic leaders: dysfunctional patterns in organizational leadership and how to deal with them. Hum Resour Manag 6(83):127–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Tepper BJ (2000) Consequences of abusive supervision. Acad Manag J 43(2):178–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Tripp TM, Bies RJ, Aquino K (2002) Poetic justice or petty jealousy? The aesthetics of revenge. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 89(1):966–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tynes T, Johannessen HA, Sterud T (2013) Work-related psychosocial and organizational risk factors for headache: a 3-year follow up study of the general working population in Norway. J Occup Environ Med 55(12):1436–1442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Brande W, Baillien E, De Witte H, Vander Elst T, Godderis L (2016) The role of work stressors, coping strategies and coping resources in the process of workplace bullying: a systematic review and development of a comprehensive model. Aggress Violent Behav 29:61–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webster V, Brough P, Daly K (2016) Fight, flight or freeze: common responses for follower coping with toxic leadership. Stress Health 32(4):346–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whicker ML (1996) Toxic leaders: when organizations go bad. Quorum VI, Westport

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams CKR (2019) The cost of tolerating toxic behaviors in the Department of Defense workplace. Mil Rev 99(4):54–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu T, Magnusson Hanson LL, Lange T, Starkopf L, Westerlund H, Madsen IE, Hansen ÅM (2018) Workplace bullying and workplace violence as risk factors for cardiovascular disease: a multi-cohort study. Eur Heart J 00:1–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D (1999) Organisational, work group related and personal causes of mobbing/bullying at work. Int J Manpow 20(1/2):70–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D, Einarsen S (2003) Individual antecedents of bullying: victims and perpetrators. In: Einarsen S, Hoel H, Zapf D, Cooper CL (eds) Bullying and harassment in the workplace: developments in theory, research, and practice, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 165–184

    Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D, Einarsen S (2005) Mobbing at work: escalated conflicts in organizations. In: Fox S, Spector PE (eds) Counterproductive work behavior: investigations of actors and targets. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 237–270

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D, Gross C (2001) Conflict escalation and coping with workplace bullying: a replication and extension. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 10(4):497–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D, Knorz C, Kulla M (1996) On the relationship between mobbing factors, and job content, social work environment, and health outcomes. Eur J Work Organ Psychol 5(2):215–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapf D, Escartín J, Einarsen S, Hoel H, Vartia M (2011) Empirical findings on prevalence and risk groups of bullying in the workplace. In: Einarsen S, Hoel H, Zapf D, Cooper CL (eds) Bullying and harassment in the workplace. Developments in theory, research, and practice, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 75–105

    Google Scholar 

  • Zill A, Knoll M, Cook A, Meyer B (2020) When do followers compensate for leader silence? The motivating role of leader injustice. J Leadersh Org Stud 27(1):65–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kuwait College of Science & Technology, Kuwait, Kuwait

    Bekir Emre Kurtulmuş

Authors
  1. Bekir Emre Kurtulmuş
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bekir Emre Kurtulmuş .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Woodbury University, North Hills, CA, USA

    Satinder Dhiman

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Kurtulmuş, B.E. (2020). Toxic Leadership and Workplace Bullying: The Role of Followers and Possible Coping Strategies. In: Dhiman, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02470-3_24-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02470-3_24-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02470-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02470-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation