What is mobbing? This concept, which can be translated by psychological or work harassment and not by “moral harassment”. (it can be said that it is immoral anyway), has an essential ethical basis that refers to the lack of respect and consideration of the right to dignity of the worker as a relevant or substantial element of the employment relationship (Piñuel and Cantero, 2002).
People or groups of people who are victims of moral harassment experience unwarranted psychological violence through negative and hostile acts, both inside and outside the workplace.
- Moral harassment can be practiced by peers themselves (“horizontal harassment”.
- Between peers).
- By subordinates (upward vertical direction) or by superiors (downstream vertical direction).
- Also known as bosses.
Studies carried out by the University of Alcalo indicate that more than 16% of active workers surveyed, or more than 2. 3 million workers in Spain, report having been victims of psychological harassment or moral harassment in their work in the last 6 months (Piuel and Cantero , 2002).
12% of active workers surveyed fully agree with the claim that widespread psychological harassment in the workplace reduces productivity (Piuel and Cantero, 2002).
“Never be mistreated in silence. Never allow yourself to be a victim. Don’t accept that no one defines your life, define it yourself. -Dead Times-“
The victim of job bullying comes to believe that he is really a bad employee and even that he is a bad person. Attacks of criminal harassment are not limited to the performance of the work, they also occur in the personal sphere, mainly attacking the person. Self esteem.
In this way, an initially brilliant worker can become the shadow of what he was, he believes he can do nothing, that everything he does is wrong and that it really is a disaster, to give reason to the accuser, and affects his performance.
As a result, he begins to have a bad conception of himself as an employee, prompting new accusations that paralyze him and cause him psychological damage in the medium or long term.
The usual goal of workplace harassment is to destroy the worker’s performance to cause or facilitate his or her departure, abandonment or dismissal from the company.
Here are some strategies and forms of workplace harassment to understand what moral harassment is:
“When people hurt you, they repeatedly think of them as sandpaper. They can scratch you or hurt you a little, but in the end you end up being polite and end up being useless?-Cris Colfer-
Workplace harassment requires the participation of one or more perpetrators who hide behind certain organizational characteristics that allow them a degree of impunity or magnitude, so it is necessary to emphasize that, except in cases where the organization exists for perverse purposes, which would be more typical of destructive organizations or sects than of companies , there are usually no organizations, but individuals who practice moral harassment.
There are several reasons why attackers get involved in bullying. The common explanation in most cases is that the harassed employee is someone who for some reason threatens the harassing group.
The most cited factor in the studies of people who suffer psychological harassment at work is the envy of their extraordinary competence or professional ability.
The victim is generally envied by the acceptance or appreciation he arouses among his peers, subordinates, bosses, patients or clients, for his competence, for the positive assessments or congratulations received for his work.
Harassment at work can also be triggered by the fact that the worker does not let himself be manipulated by others, or because he does not hold a prominent position in the company.
In work environments where there are stakeholders and representatives, moral harassment is designed to alienate irreducible opponents who do not agree to be manipulated or bought and threaten their position.
At other times, the worker is harassed for having a good personal or family situation that arouses envy in others, and when the victim is a woman the process of harassment can be triggered, in some cases, because she is not intimidated by sexual innuendo.
The fact that the person is different may be grounds for moral harassment, some workers have characteristics that differentiate them from others: are they different in terms of age, qualification, work experience, habits, sexual orientation, speak several languages?often leads to persecution by the rest of the group (Piuel and Cantero, 2002).
In case of abuse, the less competent and more aggressive person projects his incompetence on the most competent and less aggressive person.
Several experimental studies have confirmed the association between work bullying and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (Mikkelsen and Einarsen, 2002). People who have been bullied at work for a long time have shown symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as avoidance, repetition of experiences, and increased emotional agitation.
Prevention symptoms are those that lead us to avoid situations of threat and/or fear of anything related to work, people who have suffered moral harassment avoid certain behaviors, such as talking about work, not interacting with co-workers, and trying to avoid activities, places and people related to the dreaded fact.
Symptoms of the new experience appear as nightmares or dreams related to events and work interactions, they can also appear as recurring images and memories of situations of harassment or feelings that everything happens again.
Symptoms of physiological agitation experienced by employees who suffer moral harassment during the working day are: tachycardia, sweating, muscle tension, insomnia, hypervigilance, anger, irritability and difficulty concentrating.
“The most common mistake of abusers is believing that because someone is good or good, they are weak. These traits have nothing to do with each other. In fact, it takes strength and character to be a good person. “Maria Elizabeth Williams ?
As we see, labour harassment is a very worrying situation, we hope to have clarified what moral harassment is and we want to emphasize that we must all be vigilant in preventing or implementing the necessary measures to end this practice.