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Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest

Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2019.

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Main Author: Durr, Anri
Other Authors: De Wet, Marietha
Format: Thesis
Language:en_ZA
Published: Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Durr, Anri
author2 De Wet, Marietha
author_browse De Wet, Marietha
Durr, Anri
author_facet De Wet, Marietha
Durr, Anri
author_sort Durr, Anri
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv Stellenbosch University
description Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2019.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/107183
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language en_ZA
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:43:28.625Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
publisherStr Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/107183 Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest Durr, Anri De Wet, Marietha Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology. Cyberbullying -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa Bullying in the workplace -- South Africa Adjustment (Psychology) Stress (Psychology) UCTD Thesis (MCom)--Stellenbosch University, 2019. ENGLISH SUMMARY : Cyberbullying is a very serious and pressing recent phenomenon, however very little research covers the scope of cyberbullying amongst employees. The purpose of this study has been to determine the extent to which workplace cyberbullying is prevalent in South-African organisations, some risk factor associated with it, whether it has a negative psychological effect and performance effect on employees, and whether coping mechanisms help to alleviate the negative effects. A descriptive, diagnostic and quantitative research design was followed and a sample of employees (N = 152) was drawn from a big public utility provider, where they completed an online survey. It was found cyberbullying is prevalent, where it co-occurs with traditional bullying. This study found that there were differences in the psychological characteristics of (a) perceived stress, (b) ICT demands, and (c) the extent of behavioural experiences of bullying when considering the psychological effects of cyberbullying on the individual. Additional emotional reactions to cyberbullying were lowered trust levels, anger, humiliation and emotional exhaustion. In terms of the effects on performance, the overall experience of bullying, rather than specific cyberbullying events, was found to likely to decrease an individual's performance, whereas no support for the effects on organisational outcomes was found. Possible coping mechanisms were found to have varying degrees of effectiveness for alleviating the effects of bullying on perceived stress. Interestingly, coping mechanisms used specifically for cyberbullying increased the adverse effects on ICT demands. This finding indicates that additional coping mechanisms to deal with ICT demands should also be considered. From these results, one can see that cyberbullying is prevalent in the workplace and that it poses a problem in addition to that of traditional bullying. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING : Geen opsomming beskikbaar. Masters 2019-11-27T09:02:56Z 2019-12-11T06:51:42Z 2019-11-27T09:02:56Z 2019-12-11T06:51:42Z 2019-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/107183 en_ZA Stellenbosch University xiv, 248 pages ; illustrations, includes annexures application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
spellingShingle Cyberbullying -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa
Bullying in the workplace -- South Africa
Adjustment (Psychology)
Stress (Psychology)
UCTD
Durr, Anri
Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest
title Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest
title_full Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest
title_fullStr Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest
title_full_unstemmed Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest
title_short Cyberbullying in the workplace- an invisible fist “hits” the hardest
title_sort cyberbullying in the workplace an invisible fist hits the hardest
topic Cyberbullying -- Psychological aspects -- South Africa
Bullying in the workplace -- South Africa
Adjustment (Psychology)
Stress (Psychology)
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/107183
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