Open research questions in Workplace Violence and Bullying

What the literature leaves open

• There is a lack of systematic understanding of the factors influencing workplace violence among healthcare workers. Prior studies have not examined the joint latent profiles of workplace violence and burnout. There is a need for stratified and precision-oriented occupational protection strategies.

  Joint latent profiles of workplace violence and burnout among healthcare workers and their associated factors: a cross-sectional study · 2026 · DOI

• Understanding of the factors contributing to WPV among nurses and their consequences is limited. The high rate of WPV could make the workplace unsafe and make nurses afraid of experiencing it in the future.

  Prevalence, consequences, and contributing factors beyond verbal and physical workplace violence against nurses in peripheral hospitals · 2025 · DOI

• There is a lack of knowledge on the prevalence and psychological impact of workplace violence among healthcare workers. Prior studies have shown that workplace violence is underreported in healthcare settings.

  Violence and harassment against healthcare workers: a psychological-clinical perspective on a survey in a Policlinic Hospital · 2025 · DOI

• Originality/value Although the impact of the dimensions of workplace bullying on turnover intention of the employees in service sector is well expected, the dynamic role of core-self-evaluation in this relationship has not been well studied, particularly in Asian context.

  Core-self evaluation as a buffer against workplace bullying induced turnover intention of the IT professionals · 2026 · DOI

• It remains unclear whether employees who only enact bullying (perpetrator-only) and those who both enact and experience bullying (target-perpetrator) represent distinct forms of perpetration-related involvement.

  Not all workplace bullying perpetrators are alike: health, personality, and occupational profiles of perpetrator-only and target-perpetrator employees · 2026 · DOI

• This study addresses a critical gap in the literature by conducting a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of toxic leadership research spanning 2010–2025.

  Exploring toxic leadership in organizations through a comprehensive bibliometric analysis · 2025 · DOI

• Although prior studies have addressed the impact of WPV on nurses, the latent heterogeneity of their violence exposure patterns has not been systematically explored.

  Latent profiles and associated factors of workplace violence among nurses in tertiary hospitals: a cross-sectional study · 2025 · DOI

• CONCLUSIONS: Further research on quality improvement projects, including all stakeholders, aiming to enhance empathy in all parties involved is proposed.

  “Divergent Needs and the Empathy Gap”: Exploring the Experience of Workplace Violence Against Nurses Employed in the Emergency Department · 2025 · DOI

• The findings, limited to the perspective of the bullied (targets), identify four distinct storylines of WB that involve different forms of positioning: (1) the loss of health and ability to work, (2) passive acceptance of bullying, (3) unresolved conflict, and (4) active opponent in bullying.

  Struggle Over Rights and Duties at Work: Storylines and Discursive Self-Other Positioning in Workplace Bullying Stories · 2024 · DOI

• Exposure to WV among healthcare professionals in Ghana has been widely speculated, but there is limited evidence on the problem.

  Prevalence, risk factors and psychological consequences of workplace violence among health workers in the Greater Accra region, Ghana: a cross-sectional study · 2024 · DOI

• BACKGROUND: About one-third of workers identify organisational factors as contributors to workplace violence (WPV), but the associations between these factors and WPV have primarily been explored retrospectively and with measures of perceived organisational constraints, hence providing limited information for prevention.

  Role of turnover, downsizing, overtime and night shifts on workplace violence against healthcare workers: a seven-year ecological study · 2024 · DOI

• Despite its prevalence and serious consequences, workplace aggression is often underreported due to a lack of standardized assessment tools.

  Italian Version of the Hospital Aggressive Behaviour Scale-Users: Initial Psychometric Evaluation among Hospital Healthcare Professionals · 2024 · DOI

• Importance: Workplace violence (WPV) against health care workers (HCWs) is common and likely underreported.

  Workplace Violence in a Large Urban Emergency Department · 2024 · DOI

• The study had a small sample size of 18 participants. The study was limited to physicians and physician trainees in the United States.

  Micro- and Macroaggressions Experienced by Physicians and Trainees: A Nationwide Qualitative Study. · 2026 · DOI

• The literature on micro- and macroaggressions from the perspectives of physicians and learners derives almost exclusively from surveys and focus groups. There is a need for a more thorough understanding of individual perspectives on micro- and macroaggressions.

  Micro- and Macroaggressions Experienced by Physicians and Trainees: A Nationwide Qualitative Study. · 2026 · DOI

• Violence is a prevalent determinant of health. Many individuals affected by violence do not receive appropriate care. Existing conceptual frameworks may lack relevance to primary care practice.

  Improving primary care’s role in facilitating access to violence-related care: preliminary findings from a participatory study · 2026 · DOI

• Existing conceptual frameworks may lack relevance to primary care practice. There is a need to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework relevant to primary care.

  Improving primary care’s role in facilitating access to violence-related care: preliminary findings from a participatory study · 2026 · DOI

• Technical challenges, such as battery life and docking/charging/uploading issues. Practical challenges, such as the increased labour of educating the public about the use of BWCs. Organisational challenges, such as distrust in the organisation and a lack of support from some frontline management.

  Paramedics are facing more danger on the job. Here’s how to protect them · 2026 · DOI

• • There needs to be comprehensive communication around BWC, including training, adoption, and psychological safety. • People who talk positively about BWCs should be invited to workshops, in particular, where there is a negative view. • • Internal communication with frontline staff could be made more innovative, acknowledging they are time-poor and reading their emails is challenging. Innovation could mean using communication channels, such as radios, in the ambulance to remind frontline staff to use BWCs. Internal communication needs to be strengthened to mitigate the organisational culture of mistrust. Clear communication of the ‘Operating procedure’ with an emphasis on the usage of footage can be the first step, followed by team and supervisory discussions. Having the opportunity for questions and answers could settle staff doubts about the usage of footage, particularly when they contact aggressive patients. • For external purposes, if funding allows, a commercial media campaign could be an effective approach to reach the public, including advocacy through social media. • Communication should be focused on engaging people, which can be reached by sending regular messages to ‘Champions’ with the proportion who have done the training, motivating others to do the training too, and information about how the stations are meeting Evaluation of the NSW Ambulance Body-Worn Camera Trial | 2023 Regional Work and Organisational Resilience Research Group Page 75 of 108 their KPIs. Furthermore, having trainers and managers visit the stations to answer questions is a powerful face-to-face interaction to reach staff and promote engagement. • Senior managers need to be enthusiastically on board, be able to pull out statistics and talk about OV, their concerns, and possible alternatives. • Pushbacks may arise when communication is confusing, for example, when the unclear distinction is made between the optional and mandatory sign-out of BWCs. Therefore, clear communication and guidance are needed in the training around policy as BWCs can only be used under certain circumstances, and some staff members are hesitant about whether a situation is ‘aggressive enough’ to turn their BWCs on and how to justify it. A better understanding of the processes and the accountabilities of the process may increase BWC uptake. • Staff feedback helps to better understand communication preferences as NSWA has a diverse workforce. Communication style and how staff like to engage exceeds the one-sizefits-all approach. Before a statewide rollout, a targeted understanding of communication preferences would be beneficial. 3.6.

  Paramedics are facing more danger on the job. Here’s how to protect them · 2026 · DOI

• Existing research has largely focused on relationships between individual variables, with limited attention given to their integrated interactions. Studies on workplace bullying, work stress, and social support remain insufficient in the domestic context.

  Correlations among workplace bullying, work stress, and social support: a meta-analysis with structural equation modeling · 2026 · DOI

• There is a need for a reliable and valid instrument to assess work-related criticalities. Traditional workplace bullying measures may not capture the full range of work-related criticalities.

  Assessing work-related criticalities: psychometric properties of a questionnaire developed in an Italian occupational stress center · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of understanding of the key determinants of workplace incivility and their contextual relationships. There is a need for a hybrid framework for assessing and prioritizing structural relationships to address workplace incivility.

  Structural Modeling and Multi-Aggregation Priority Assessment of Workplace Incivility Determinants in the Healthcare Sector · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies a gap in the understanding of academic harassment as a form of institutional violence. The research highlights the need for further investigation into the manifestations of academic harassment in Brazilian public universities.

  ASSÉDIO ACADÊMICO COMO VIOLÊNCIA ESTRUTURAL · 2026 · DOI

• Investigating the impact of workplace mobbing on job satisfaction in other countries - Examining the relationship between gender role attitudes and job satisfaction in different occupational settings - Studying the effects of interventions aimed at reducing workplace mobbing

  Mobbing, Gender Roles, and Job Satisfaction Among Healthcare Radiation Workers: A Cross-Cultural Study · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on workplace mobbing and psychosocial risks among radiation workers. The study aims to fill this gap by examining the relationships among workplace mobbing, gender role attitudes, and job satisfaction in different cultural contexts.

  Mobbing, Gender Roles, and Job Satisfaction Among Healthcare Radiation Workers: A Cross-Cultural Study · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Workplace Violence and Bullying

• Abusive Supervision in Work Organizations: Review, Synthesis, and Research Agenda · Journal of Management · 2007 · 1,282 citations
• Abusive supervision and workplace deviance and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 2007 · 1,167 citations
• Workplace harassment from the victim's perspective: A theoretical model and meta-analysis. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 2006 · 935 citations
• Mobbing and Psychological Terror at Workplaces · Violence and Victims · 1990 · 889 citations
• Ways of Explaining Workplace Bullying: A Review of Enabling, Motivating and Precipitating Structures and Processes in the Work Environment · Human Relations · 2003 · 713 citations
• “Incivility, social undermining, bullying…oh my!”: A call to reconcile constructs within workplace aggression research · Journal of Organizational Behavior · 2010 · 711 citations
• MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO: THE INFLUENCE OF WORK GROUPS ON THE ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF EMPLOYEES. · Academy of Management Journal · 1998 · 659 citations
• Predicting workplace aggression: A meta-analysis. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 2007 · 609 citations
• Abusive Supervision: A Meta-Analysis and Empirical Review · Journal of Management · 2015 · 563 citations
• Workplace Victimization: Aggression from the Target's Perspective · Annual Review of Psychology · 2008 · 547 citations

Most recent work

• Workplace violence against healthcare workers: a scoping review of reporting practices, barriers to reporting and institutional responses (2020–2025) · BMC Health Services Research · 2026
• When the Remedy Is the Weapon: Covert Bullying and Weaponised Complaints in Nursing Academia · Issues in Mental Health Nursing · 2026
• Unlocking resilience in the face of user aggression: Preliminary psychometric evaluation of the Italian Trauma-related Coping Self-Efficacy Scale among hospital health care professionals. · Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy · 2026
• Toxic roots, bitter fruits: how dark leadership breeds workplace incivility · Management Decision · 2026
• Workplace bullying as the erosion of recognition: ethnographic insights from a Schutzian perspective · Frontiers in Sociology · 2026
• How Do Fear of Violence and Exposure to Violence Affect Compassion Fatigue in Healthcare Workers? · Journal of Interpersonal Violence · 2026
• Workplace bullying research at a crossroads: a five-decade bibliometric analysis and future pathways · Personnel Review · 2026
• Assessing workplace violence in healthcare workers: a cross-sectional study in Italy · BMC Health Services Research · 2026
• Bullying and harassment experiences among radiographers: A transnational scoping review · Radiography · 2026
• Addressing Nihilism and the Glorification of Violence in Adolescents in Clinical Settings · Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026

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