How managers and colleagues can help employees who witness workplace aggression

Just witnessing aggression or other bad behaviour at work can affect our well-being - but the right support from employers and colleagues can limit the consequences, according to research by the University of Sheffield. Dr Christine Sprigg and colleagues from the University's Institute of Work Psychology surveyed 127 British employees who had witnessed aggression at work. Employees were asked to complete a number of psychological measures at two time points six months apart. Aggression could be anything from physical violence or the threat of physical violence to shouting and insulting remarks. It also included more indirect forms of bullying, such as withholding information and being given an unmanageable workload. The researchers looked at the effect of three workplace factors on the employees' levels of work-related depression, anxiety and emotional exhaustion. These included two work-context factors - social support from managers and social support from co-workers - and one individual-level factor: personal optimism.