Theoretical Dimensions of Bullying and Inappropriate Behaviour among Faculty Members

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to determine the features of bullying in Estonian universities. In the spring of 2014, 864 faculty members answered our e-mail questionnaire. This questionnaire was based on the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R22); eight additional items dealt with sexual harassment, cyberbullying, and work-related malpractice. Structural equation modelling was used to confirm a model composed of five first-order factors as well as a second-order model that encompassed these five first-order factors. According to these models, representative forms of bullying in Estonian universities included personal insults, work-related blame, professional understating, unreasonable work-related demands, and work-related malpractice. The Academic Bullying Inventory (ABI-10) that was developed is a reliable and valid instrument with which to measure workplace bullying in universities.

KEYWORDS:

• Bullying
• inappropriate behaviour
• university
• faculty
• workplace bullying

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Matti Meriläinen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7356-5369

Kristi Kõiv http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3486-3501