Understanding the lived experience of bullying in Australian workplaces: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to develop a deeper understanding of a negative behavior at work through a study of the lived experience of bullying in Australian workplaces. Although there is considerable research available on workplace bullying, extant research largely provides empirical examinations of the prevalence, causes, and consequences of the phenomenon. By contrast, the research herein reported offers an in-depth account of bullying from the frame of reference of those who have experienced it and demonstrates the difficulties faced by them when coping with it. The study’s data source is drawn from reports submitted to the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry on workplace bullying. The reports were analyzed by using the principles of interpretative phenomenological analysis. The study highlights the impact of bullying at work on individuals’ lives and the coping mechanisms used for dealing with the impact. This article also reveals that bullying destroys organizations’ succession planning efforts as competent and talented individuals leave jobs as a way of coping with bullying. The study further shows that some individuals eventually choose to end their lives as a way of coping with bullying. The article thus adds evidence to anecdotal suggestions of the link between bullying and suicide in Australia.

KEYWORDS:

• Australia
• lived experience
• phenomenological analysis
• workplace bullying

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for providing constructive feedback which helped in improving this paper.

Ethical approval

This paper did not directly involve human participants because the data source was drawn from reports available on a public domain.