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Abstract
Using data from the 2016 Merit Principles Survey, which includes 14,515 randomly selected U.S. federal employees from 24 agencies, and data from FedScope, I have sought to respond to a number of research questions related to how mistreatment, including sexual harassment and three forms of workplace aggression—bullying, social undermining, and ostracism—are understood, performed, and enacted in the everyday working practices of federal employees.
Regarding evidence of mistreatment in the federal workplace, the results presented in Chapter 3 reveal that among the four forms of mistreatment, social undermining was most frequently reported by federal employees, followed by bullying, ostracism, and sexual harassment. When considering the findings by agency, sexual harassment and bullying most frequently occurred at the Department of Veterans Affairs, while the rates of undermining and ostracism were highest at the Department of Education. Concerning victims’ gender, while more women than men generally reported experiencing all four forms of mistreatment, men in some agencies reported being sexually harassed, bullied, undermined, and ostracized more often than women. Respecting perpetrators’ characteristics, most perpetrators of these mistreatment behaviors were men. Additionally, these mistreatment behaviors were most frequently perpetrated by coworkers. Finally, victims took different approaches in response to each form of mistreatment.
Chapter 4 examined whether individual characteristics (gender, age, ethnicity, educational level, job tenure, and newcomer status), job stressors (job stress, workload, and job stability), and organizational characteristics (organizational size, female-to-male ratio, male- and female-dominated environments, and gender, ethnic, and age diversity) increase or decrease the risk of becoming victims of each form of mistreatment among federal employees. I found that these factors predict mistreatment victimization for female and male employees differently. Interestingly, higher levels of ethical/moral work climate and a more effective discrimination complaint process can decrease the occurrences of all four forms of mistreatment.
Finally, the results presented in Chapter 5 indicate that experiencing sexual harassment, bullying, undermining, and ostracism can lead to lower levels of job satisfaction, work commitment, internal collaboration, and organizational performance. However, while bullying, undermining, and ostracism decrease individual productivity and increase victims’ turnover intentions, sexual harassment is not predictive of these two variables.
Regarding evidence of mistreatment in the federal workplace, the results presented in Chapter 3 reveal that among the four forms of mistreatment, social undermining was most frequently reported by federal employees, followed by bullying, ostracism, and sexual harassment. When considering the findings by agency, sexual harassment and bullying most frequently occurred at the Department of Veterans Affairs, while the rates of undermining and ostracism were highest at the Department of Education. Concerning victims’ gender, while more women than men generally reported experiencing all four forms of mistreatment, men in some agencies reported being sexually harassed, bullied, undermined, and ostracized more often than women. Respecting perpetrators’ characteristics, most perpetrators of these mistreatment behaviors were men. Additionally, these mistreatment behaviors were most frequently perpetrated by coworkers. Finally, victims took different approaches in response to each form of mistreatment.
Chapter 4 examined whether individual characteristics (gender, age, ethnicity, educational level, job tenure, and newcomer status), job stressors (job stress, workload, and job stability), and organizational characteristics (organizational size, female-to-male ratio, male- and female-dominated environments, and gender, ethnic, and age diversity) increase or decrease the risk of becoming victims of each form of mistreatment among federal employees. I found that these factors predict mistreatment victimization for female and male employees differently. Interestingly, higher levels of ethical/moral work climate and a more effective discrimination complaint process can decrease the occurrences of all four forms of mistreatment.
Finally, the results presented in Chapter 5 indicate that experiencing sexual harassment, bullying, undermining, and ostracism can lead to lower levels of job satisfaction, work commitment, internal collaboration, and organizational performance. However, while bullying, undermining, and ostracism decrease individual productivity and increase victims’ turnover intentions, sexual harassment is not predictive of these two variables.