Workplace violence and workplace aggression: Evidence on their relative frequency and potential causes

Recent news reports have focused attention on dramatic instances of workplace violence-extreme acts of aggression in work settings. It is suggested here that such actions, while both tragic and frightening, are only a small part of a much larger problem of workplace aggression-efforts by individuals to harm others with whom they work or the organizations in which they are employed. The present study investigated two major hypotheses with respect to such aggression: 1) contrary to what media reports suggest, most aggression occurring in work settings is verbal, indirect, and passive rather than physical, direct, and active; 2) recent changes in many organizations (e.g., downsizing, increased workforce diversity) have generated conditions that may contribute to the occurrence of workplace aggression. A survey of 178 employed persons provided partial support for both predictions. Verbal and passive forms of aggression were rated as more frequent by participants than physical and active forms of aggression. In addition, the greater the extent to which several changes had occurred recently in participants' organizations, the greater the incidence of workplace aggression they reported. VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study by Baron and Neuman was to examine whether verbal, indirect, and passive forms of aggression are more common in work environments than physical, direct, and active forms of aggression. Additionally, the authors investigated whether changes that occur in work environments lead to increased workplace aggression. METHODOLOGY: A quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study was employed. The sample included 178 full-time workers (92 females and 86 males). These individuals worked for a wide range of organizations in both the public and private sector and had held their positions anywhere from less than one year to more than five years. They ranged in age from their twenties to their sixties. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire dealing with workplace aggression. Forty items concerned perceived frequency of various forms of aggression. These forms of aggression were based on Buss' three dichotomies: physical-verbal, active-passive, and direct-indirect. For each, participants were asked to rate the extent to which they had witnessed and/or experienced each type of aggression from never to very often. The next thirteen questions asked participants to rate the extent to which the following changes had occurred in their workplace within the previous twelve months: downsizing, layoffs, budget cuts, technological change, increased diversity within the workforce, introduction of new affirmative action policies, use of computers to monitor employee-performance, change in management, restructuring, reengineering, pay cuts, increased use of part-time workers, and job sharing. The final section asked for demographic information such as gender, age, position, years with employers, and the size and nature of the organization. The authors hypothesized that covert forms of aggression (verbal, passive, and indirect) were more frequent in work environments than overt (physical, active, and direct) forms of aggression and that the greater the extent to which various changes have occurred in a work environment, the higher the incidence of aggression in that environment. Analysis included examination of frequencies and means as well as t-tests, correlations, and multiple regression. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: As hypothesized, the findings indicated for both witnessed and experienced aggression that verbal aggression was rated as significantly more frequent in occurrence than physical aggression (p In regards to changes in the workplace, certain changes occurred more frequently than others. Changes in management, organizational restructuring, and downsizing occurred most frequently, while changes in affirmative action and job sharing occurred least frequently. Several types of change were also significantly correlated with reported frequency of aggression. Increased diversity (p Finally, forward selection multiple aggression analyses revealed that increased use of part-time employees and changes in management were significant predictors of perception of witnessed aggression, while use of part-time employees, increased workplace diversity, and pay cuts or freezes were significant predictors of experienced aggression (p The authors concluded by stressing that the results offer partial support for both hypotheses and that although instances of actual workplace violence are important and have serious consequences, it is unwise to focus research attention solely upon them. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Workplace Violence KW - Workplace Aggression KW - Aggression Causes KW - Violence Causes KW - Adult Violence KW - Adult Offender KW - Adult Perceptions KW - Adult Aggression KW - Aggression Incidence and Prevalence KW - Violence Incidence and Prevalence