Personality Antecedents and Consequences of Workplace Bullying among Faculty Members at Higher Educational Institutes in Central India

Abstract

This study examines personality antecedents and consequences of workplace bullying among faculty members. Data were collected, via a questionnaire, from 399 faculty members of higher educational institutes in central India. Results reveal that the Big Five personality characteristics have some predictive power to explain victimization from workplace bullying. The most important personality antecedent was found to be neuroticism. Contrarily, neuroticism was found to be positively related with workplace bullying. Workplace bullying was found to intensify the intention to leave, increase stress levels, and reduce work performance. The most important consequence was found to be the victim’s intention to leave. The identification of individual traits will help organizations to pinpoint likely victims of bullying and to initiate anti-victimization efforts to effectively safeguard individuals in the workplace.