Are national levels of employee harassment cultural covariations of climato-economic conditions?

Abstract

Conflict in a workgroup turns into harassment if a group member is persistently confronted with negative acts with few possibilities to retaliate. Cross-national differences in such intragroup harassment are considerable but wait to be understood. In this study, survey data from 44,836 employees in 44 countries revealed that a cultural in-group orientation was associated with lower employee harassment. In addition, and in agreement with Van de Vliert's climato-economic theory of culture, workforces reported more harassment in poorer countries with more demanding climates of colder-than-temperate winters, hotter-than-temperate summers, or both. Finally, it was found that the impact of climato-economic hardships on harassment suppressed the impact of cultural in-group orientation on harassment. Using the regression equation obtained for the sample of 44 countries, national levels of employee harassment for a broader pool of 103 countries were estimated and scrutinized for their validity for future research. Data from the World Values Surveys were used to validate the estimations. The results provide the basis for a further hypothesis, that employee harassment is more prevalent in countries with either survival or self-expression cultures than in countries with cultures that are intermediate between those two extremes. The results have implications for prevention and remedial measures.

Keywords:

• employee harassment
• bullying
• organizational culture
• cross-national
• national culture
• climate
• climato-economic

Acknowledgements

For data gathering, we thank Kiyoko Abe, Eugen Adelsmayr, Vera Cubela Adoric, Bilge Akça, Christian Balducci, Necati Cemaloðlu, Jovi Chong, Sonavi Chopra, Svetlana Cizmic, Torunn Dahl, Emma Daniels, Antonia Dietman, Nick Djurcovic, Makrygianni Dorothea, Jan Marc Dy Macababayao, Willy Eriksen, Stéphanie Raymonde Marie Facchin, Jazim Fathima, Kendra Ferdinand-Forde, Herminia Moez Flores, Silvia Franco, Mervyn Gifford, Gabriele Giorgi, Başak Gökçe, Ria Gunawan, Marie Hansen, Helge Hoel, Annie Høgh, Vikky Knott, Emma Louise Langham, Sally Ann Lauder, Angel Li, Yu-Hui Lin, Regina Heloisa Maciel, Vilija Malinauskiene, Roger Mangalus, David Manning, Nancy Marrello, Darcy McCormack, Irtyah Merchaoui-Allagui, Arthur B. Murphy, Jennifer Xiu Hui Ng, Jennifer Nicols, Michael O'Driscoll, José Luis Cusicanqui Peñaranda, Melissa Plasschaert, Eva Praet, Carmel Privitera, Edward Randerson, Monika Rieger, Manuel Rodríguez, Manuel Salvador, Pamela Lutgen Sandvik, Yoojeong Nadine Seo, Inese Siliniece, Shellie Simons, Marianne Stallevik, Seloane Ishiba Steve, Jiro Takaki, Merle Tambur, Markku Tilli, Alison Thirlwall, David González Trijuequean, Tanja Urdih-Lazar, Ana Verdasca, Milica Vukelic, Magda Warszewska, Sze Yii Wong, and Gozde Yilmaz.

In addition, for research contributions and critical comments on draft versions of this article, we thank Mona Berthelsen, Brita Bjørkelo, Lars Glasø, Lars Johan Hauge, Jørn Hetland, Leo Kant, Stig Berge Matthiesen, Guy Notelaers, Frans Siero, Anders Skogstad, Gerben Van der Vegt, and Nico Van Yperen.