Second-Hand Abuse: Bad Bosses Make The Whole Office Toxic
Angry Office Mark Sebastian via FlickrAn emotionally abusive supervisor ruins the workplace environment for everyone. A bad boss doesn't just harm the employees he torments directly. He damages non-targeted workers, too, according to new research in the Journal of Social Psychology. Hostile behavior toward subordinates -- like being rude, ridiculing or publicly criticizing a worker or employing that middle-school favorite, the silent treatment -- negatively affects the work environment. The impact is felt among those who aren't the intended victims of abuse, the research shows. The researchers surveyed 233 full-time employees, including teachers, lawyers, government workers, receptionists and electricians. Subjects answered questions about bullying bosses, vicarious abuse, job frustration and more. The study found that when an employee observes hostile treatment, reads about it in an email or hears rumors about it, he experiences so-called second-hand abuse--that is, the abuse affects him just as it does the target of the...