Upwards Workplace Bullying: A Literature Review

There is a large body of international literature on most aspects of workplace bullying, yet there are only a few research articles dealing with bullying of bosses, managers, and leaders by their subordinates and staff members. Over time the term “upwards bullying” has been accepted as the generic t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSAGE open Vol. 12; no. 1
Main Authors Busby, Lorraine, Patrick, Linda, Gaudine, Alice
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2022
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
SAGE Publishing
Subjects
Bullying
Extortion
Literature reviews
bullying the boss
subordinate-initiated bullying
supervisor-targeted bullying
upwards bullying
bottom-up bullying
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Summary:There is a large body of international literature on most aspects of workplace bullying, yet there are only a few research articles dealing with bullying of bosses, managers, and leaders by their subordinates and staff members. Over time the term “upwards bullying” has been accepted as the generic term to describe this phenomenon but using these search terms does not provide a comprehensive indication of relevant publications. This literature review identifies and collates English language research on upwards bullying to document its research status, its lack of visibility in the workplace, and to connect upwards bullying with related research on aggression against supervisors and managers. Included is research that specifically labels the phenomena as upwards or upward bullying, along with related terms of subordinate-initiated bullying, supervisor-targeted bullying, bottom-up bullying, bullying the manager, and bullying the boss. Nonacademic publications are not included, nor is research on related workplace misbehavior such as cyberbullying, legal action resulting from upwards bullying or whistle blowers, and extortion or blackmail. Areas for further exploration in the field are identified with indicators of how this type of workplace bullying differs from lateral and downward bullying. Coverage up to the year 2020 is provided with the expectation that the trend of working from home driven by safety considerations during the COVID-19 epidemic could change employee responses and reactions to their workplace leaders and management.
ISSN:2158-2440
2158-2440
DOI:10.1177/21582440221085008