Targets’ Coping Responses to Workplace Bullying with Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Tolerance: A Two-Phased Study of Faculty in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship between workplace bullying and Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect (EVLN) coping responses with Perceived Organizational Tolerance (POT) of bullying as moderator using the integrated model of reactance and learned helplessness theory. The data has been collected from junior faculty in higher education institutes of Punjab. The study has been conducted in two phases, with phase 1 including identifying targets of workplace bullying using cut-off scores and phase 2 studying the perceived organizational tolerance. The results show that junior faculty chooses neglect as a coping response and that the level of perceived organizational tolerance moderates the relationship between workplace bullying and exit-voice-neglect. This study contributes to existing literature by employing integration of theories and using multi-level research design. It also is an addition to the literature on the coping response of targets to workplace bullying in higher education and is a rare attempt at operationalizing perceived organizational tolerance and its relation with workplace bullying.