Effect of Workplace Bullying on Job Attitude: Moderated Mediating Effect of Union-Support Perception and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Bullying in the workplace has long been regarded as an endemic problem in organizations and not just as an individual's exceptional or deviant behavior. Bullying in the workplace causes individuals to experience anger, fear, sadness, and guilt, and it increases counterproductive work behavior in an organization, which negatively affects both work and non-work performance. Given these contexts, we analyzed job attitudes, self-esteem, and perceptions of union support according to workplace bullying among 1,932 call-center counselors. To summarize the analysis results, first, when the occurrence of workplace bullying was high, it was expected that there would be a negative (-) relationship with job attitude. In addition, when the occurrence of workplace bullying is high, individual self-esteem is damaged, and it is expected that there will be a negative (-) relationship with job attitude, and the mediating role of self-esteem is proposed as a hypothesis. Lastly, if the awareness of union support is high, it can be expected that the union will be recognized as occupying the role of a supporter and that, even if exposed to workplace bullying, the negative relationship with job attitude can be alleviated. As a result of the analysis, the proposed hypothesis was supported, and the results were discussed in the research implications.