Why Bullies Thrive at Work

New study shows a strong correlation between bullying, social competence, and positive job evaluations

Despite the awareness of workplace bullying and the resistance to it by employers and employees, many workplace bullies achieve high levels of career success, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Management.

Published in the Journal of Managerial Psychology, the study found that some workplace bullies have high social skills that they use to strategically abuse their co-workers, yet still receive positive evaluations from their supervisors.

The study marks the first attempt to measure the relationship between being a bully and job performance. It offers an initial explanation of why bullies thrive in the workplace despite organizational attempts to stop bullying behaviors.

“Many bullies can be seen as charming and friendly, but they are highly destructive and can manipulate others into providing them with the resources they need to get ahead,” says the study’s co-author, Darren Treadway, associate professor of organization and human resources at the UB School of Management.

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Comments

Bullying vs manipulation

Is this discussing bullying (threats, violence) or overall manipulative behaviour of which bullying is a component? In my opinion, the pervasiveness of 'reality' shows where it shows contestants conspiring against each other displays the very worst of human behaviour and an entire generation has now grown up with the notion that this is acceptable or even desirable. Unfortunately a 'game player' will get ahead because he/she knows the right buttons to push but can't or won't discern if they actually should.

But why do they thrive?

I'm still looking for the answer to the question promised in the title--why they thrive. The article just says there is a correllation and mentions someone's opinion that companies should prevent it. And what is meant by "bullying" anyway. This is a pretty loaded term. Does it overlap with being assertive? What is the evidence that is harms a company? Or is it just employees' feelings that we're worried about here?

Operation Definition

Without a "operational definition" for the word bullying, this study is meaningless.

Rich D.

Question about the sample

So, this was based on a sample of 54 employees at one organization in one region? That seems a little light for making some of these sweeping generalizations. Is the paper accessible? I'd like to see more about the method.

Sea-Hare

"Work hard and be aggressive, so you can grow into a nice husky Tethys like your ten-pound parent. Imagine it, the hypocrite, the illusionist, the Pollyanna, the genial liar, saying that to its millions of eggs en masse, with the dice loaded at such a ratio! Inevitably 99.999 percent are destined to fall by the wayside. No prophet would foresee which specific individuals are to survive, but the most casual student could state confidently that no more than a few are to do so (...)" Quoted from John Steinbeck The Log From the Sea of Cortez - Pan Books, 1969, page 192.