A spate of recent suicides highlights the tragic effects of prolonged bullying. While many consider it a schoolyard issue, bullying is an all-too-common problem in the workplace for millions of Americans.

Bullying has gained prominence in recent months following a spate of suicides by bullied students. Kids being bullied at school isn’t a new issue. In fact, half of all high school students say they have bullied someone in the past year, with nearly as many saying they have been victims of bullying, according to a study from the nonpartisan, nonprofit Josephson Institute of Ethics last month.

Sadly, it took the suicides of young adults and teenagers for much of the public to realize the extent of this issue. In fact, millions of American adults deal with bullying every day in the workplace.

In late July, the 52-year-old managing editor of a literary journal committed suicide following repeated complaints about alleged bullying by his boss. The editor’s suicide highlighted the rising prominence of bullying in the workplace.

According to the Workplace Bullying Institute’s (WBI) latest annual survey on the “silent epidemic,” 35 percent of the U.S. workforce report being bullied at work. While that number is lower than was reported in 2007 (37 percent), that is still an estimated 53.5 million American workers who experienced bullying firsthand in 2010. An additional 15 percent witnessed workplace bullying.

The WBI conducted two surveys in 2010, one with 4,210 survey respondents and one with 2,092 respondents. In the first survey, “workplace bullying” was defined as “repeated, health harming abusive conduct committed by bosses and co-workers.” In the second survey, “workplace bullying” was defined as “repeated mistreatment: sabotage by others that prevented work from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation and humiliation.”

Simply put, it is any behavior by employers or co-workers that subjects targets to repeated, abusive conduct resulting in health-harming physical and psychological effects. Bosses, peers or even subordinate employees can be bullies.

Based on its findings, the WBI says bullying in the workplace may be getting worse with the recession.

“It’s a no-brainer prediction that the economic recession escalates bullying at work,” the WBI says. “From an online WBI summer 2009 survey of 454 respondents, 28 percent reported an escalation. In that sample, 97 percent said that they were now or were previously bullied.”

In good times, abused workers are inclined to simply leave, according to Dr. Gary Namie, the institute’s research director. But with high unemployment, many employees feel they must stay put.

“There are many myths and misconceptions about workplace bullying advanced by disbelievers and opponents,” according to Namie. “One portrayal is that bullying affects only the uneducated, unskilled workers.”

Survey respondents were asked about mistreatment, sabotage, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation or humiliation at work. In the findings, 11 percent of workers with a college degree responded that they are currently bullied in the workplace, compared with 7 percent of those without a college degree.

“Note that the respondents with more formal education reported a higher bullying rate,” Namie said. “Not having a college degree was associated with a higher denial of bullying rate. Myth busted.”

Though motivations vary, bullying often stems from narcissism, jealousy and a need for control. Consequently, bullies tend to target non-confrontational, intelligent and popular co-workers to tear them down or even destroy their careers within the company.

Both men and women bully — 62 percent of bullies are male and 58 percent of targets are female — but the majority of bullying (68 percent) is same-gender harassment, “which is mostly legal according to anti-discrimination laws and workplace policies,” according to the WBI. Female bullying is becoming more common at work: women bullies target other women in 80 percent of cases.

Respondents were also asked whether they support or oppose workplace-bullying laws like the ones that have been introduced in 17 states since 2003 by the Healthy Workplace Bill. Of the respondents, 64 percent said they support having laws to protect workers from “malicious, health-harming abusive conduct” committed by bosses and co-workers (the specific language contained in the introduced bills), while 23.8 percent opposed laws.

In 2010, both the New York and Illinois Senates passed the bill. However, it has yet to become law in any state.

Earlier

Understanding Office Bullies

From the Playground to the Boardroom: Workplace Bullies

Resources

2010 U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey
Workplace Bullying Institute, August 2010

Workplace Bullying Still Rampant in U.S.
Workplace Bullying Institute, Aug. 30, 2010

The Experience of Being Bullied and Witnessing it
Workplace Bullying Institute

Stability of Workplace Bullying Prevalence since 2007
Workplace Bullying Institute

Gender & Workplace Bullying
Workplace Bullying Institute

Education & Workplace Bullying
Workplace Bullying Institute

Recession & Workplace Bullying
Workplace Bullying Institute

Support for a Workplace Bullying Law
Workplace Bullying Institute

2010 Report Card Reveals Widespread Bullying and other at-Risk Behavior in High School
Josephson Institute of Ethics, Oct. 26, 2010

Did Depression or an Alleged Bully Boss Prompt Editor’s Suicide?
by Ray Sanchez
ABC News, Aug. 19, 2010

What Killed Kevin Morrissey?
by Robin Wilson
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Aug. 12, 2010

Workplace Bullying: Recognize and Prevent It
by Judy White
CIO Insight, Sept. 28, 2010