Conflicts and conflict management styles as precursors of workplace bullying: A two-wave longitudinal study

The current study examined the relationships between conflicts in the work unit, the employee's conflict management style and workplace bullying in a full panel two-wave longitudinal design with a 6 months’ time lag (n = 277). We assumed that conflicts as well as the conflict management styles of "problem solving" and "forcing" at T1 would predict being a target or a perpetrator of bullying at T2. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) showed that a normal causation model fitted our data best. In this model, forcing at T1 related positively and problem solving at T1 related negatively to being a perpetrator at T2; in line with our expectations. In contrast to our hypotheses, this model showed that conflicts in the work unit at T1 and the conflict management styles at T1 were not related to being a target of bullying at T2. These results underline that problem solving and forcing may be regarded as triggers of workplace bullying. They particularly influence being a perpetrator and not being a target of bullying.