Predicting workplace bullying in nurses based on social exchange styles

Workplace bullying can be considered as one of the main causes of stress in the work setting that has adverse consequences. Many researchers attribute bullying to attitudes that stem from interpersonal interactions in the context of the workplace; therefore concepts based on social exchange theory are expected to be helpful in this regard. This study aimed to predict bullying behavior in nurses' workplaces based on social exchange styles.

The research method was correlational and the statistical population included nurses working in Tehran hospitals. 250 nurses from three educational hospitals were selected by available cluster sampling. The Workplace Bullying Questionnaire (Einarsen, 2009) and the Social Exchange Styles Scale (Leybman, 2011) were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis.

The results showed that fairness and overinvestment exchange style can significantly predict workplace bullying behavior in nurses (p≥0.05).

These results confirm the role of social exchange styles with workplace bullying behavior and can be effective in better understanding, and designing educational and psychological interventions