A multilevel investigation of workplace bullying and employee creative behavior: uncovering the crucial role of psychological capital

• Date: 12 November 2024
• Pages: 536-553
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-12-2023-0186
• Published date: 12 November 2024
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare
• Author: Muhammad Qasim Shabbir,Shuja ul Islam

A multilevel investigation of workplace

bullying and employee creative

behavior: uncovering the crucial role

of psychological capital

Muhammad Qasim Shabbir and Shuja ul Islam

FAST School of Management,

National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose –This study investigates workplace bullying through a novel conceptualization by focusing on the

simultaneous effects of abusive supervision and coworkers’ bullying. It aims to thoroughly understand how

these harmful behaviors affect employee creative behavior.

Design/methodology/approach –Based on the tenets of social cognitive theory, this study used multilevel

structural equation modeling with Mplus to analyze multi-source and multi-wave data collected from the

information, communication and technology sector. The sample included 510 participants from 170 teams,

comprising 340 subordinates and their 170 supervisors. Responses were collected at three time points, with a gap

of approximately two weeks.

Findings –The findings indicate significant direct effects of abusive supervision and coworkers’ bullying on

employee creative behavior, highlighting the detrimental effectsof workplacebullying. Additionally, this study

introduced and tested the mediating role of psychological capital, providing valuable insights into the

mechanisms through which workplace bullying affects employee creative behavior.

Originality/value –By adopting a social cognitive framework, this multilevel research advances the field and

enriches the literature on workplace bullying and employee creative behavior. This study adds depth to existing

research by examining how abusive supervision and coworkers’ bullying simultaneously affect employees. It

also highlights the vital role of psychological capital in mediating these effects. The findings emphasize the need

to tackle workplace bullying to boost employee creative behavior and overall well-being.

Keywords Workplace bullying, Psychological capital, Employee creative behavior, Social cognitive theory

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

In today’s competitive and dynamic business environment, organizations increasingly

acknowledge the pivotal role of employee creative behavior in fostering innovation (Stojcic

et al., 2018;Wohl, 2022). Characterized by the generation of unique and valuable ideas,

employee creative behavior holds particular significance for organizations (Khedhaouria

et al., 2017;Lua et al., 2024). Although employee creative behavior is vital for organizational

success, it is often impeded by various factors. Among these, workplace bullying, in particular,

stands out as a serious problem that has been steadily increasing in recent years (Ng et al.,

2023). It poses significant challenges in fostering a supportive and conducive work

environment that nurtures employee creative behavior (Anasori et al., 2023;Jiang et al., 2019).

Workplace bullying encompasses repeated, unwanted behaviors aimed at one or more

employees, resulting in humiliation, distress and interference with job performance, thus

creating a hostile work environment (Einarsen and Raknes, 1997). Workplace bullying may

involve abusive supervision, which originates vertically from supervisors (Mackey et al.,

2015;Waschgler et al., 2013) and coworkers’ bullying, which comes laterally from team

colleagues (Blackstock et al., 2015;Waschgler et al., 2013), refers to such detrimental

behaviors that create a hostile work environment, impairing employee well-being and job-

related outcomes (Baillien et al., 2008;Einarsen et al., 1994;Hogh et al., 2011).

Despite widespread research interest in the area of workplace bullying, a recent study

claimed that the existing literature predominantly focuses on only single-level investigations,

IJWHM

17,5/6

536

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1753-8351.htm

Received 18 December 2023

Revised 11 August 2024

10 October 2024

Accepted 11 October 2024

InternationalJournal of Workplace

HealthManagement

Vol.17 No. 5/6, 2024

pp.536-553

©Emerald Publishing Limited

1753-8351

DOI10.1108/IJWHM-12-2023-0186

overlooking the multi-level nature of this phenomenon and neglecting the broader social

context. This lack of comprehensive quantitative empirical studies may result in an

overemphasis on certain features and limit our understanding of the interconnected roles and

dynamics involved (Leon-Perez et al., 2021). Second, only a few studies (e.g. Jiang et al.,

2019;Majeed and Naseer, 2021;Anasori et al., 2023) have investigated the relationship

between workplace bullying and employee creative behavior, typically focusing on single-

source and single-level perspectives despite the inherently multi-source and multi-level nature

of workplace bullying. This omission is very serious because such types of workplace

mistreatment have detrimental effects at individual, organizational and social levels (Ozkan,

2022;Naseer et al., 2018;Ng et al., 2023). Therefore, to address this gap, it is crucial to adopt a

comprehensive approach by conceptualizing, capturing and empirically examining these

simultaneous effects through a unified multi-source and multi-level model.

Third, previous studies have reported conflicting results regarding the relationship between

workplace bullying and employee creative behavior. For instance, Anasori et al. (2023) found

that workplace bullying adversely affected employee creative behavior. Similarly,Jiang et al.

(2019) reported a decline in employee creativity associated with abusive supervision. In

contrast, Majeed and Naseer (2021) observed that workplace bullying appeared to

significantly enhance employee creative behavior. These inconsistent results suggest that

personal or contextual factors might play a critical role in this complex relationship. One such

factor that has recently gained significant attention from researchers is psychological capital,

which influences positive and negative employee outcomes (Agarwal and Avey, 2020;Avey

et al., 2011). The developmental nature of psychological capital shows how it impacts the

relationships between various contextual factors and employee outcomes (Luthans et al.,

2008), offering a chance to boost both current and future organizational competitiveness

(Salanova and Ortega-Maldonado, 2019). Therefore, in addition to examining the combined

effect of abusive supervision and coworker bullying on employee creative behavior, this study

also investigates the potential mediating role of psychological capital and explores the

underlying mechanisms of these interactions.

Drawing on social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), which states that human functioning

is influenced by cognitive, emotional and biological factors as well as behavior and

environmental contexts, this study addresses gaps in the literature and makes several

contributions to previous research. First, using a multi-level approach that considers both

individual and team-level factors enhances the ecological validity of the results and provides

detailed insights into the complex dynamics at play. Second, this study highlights workplace

bullying as the combined effects of abusive supervision (AS) and coworker bullying (CB),

shedding light on how these negative behaviors at the workplace impact employee creative

behavior (ECB). Third, this study reveals the mediating role of employee psychological capital

(PsyCap) in transmitting the effect of workplace bullying on ECB. This nuanced

understanding highlights the complex mechanisms through which workplace bullying

originating from multiple sources affects employee PsyCap and, subsequently, their creative

behavior. Fourth, this study utilizes the seldom-applied theoretical perspective of social

cognitive theory (SCT) to understand the interplay between social, contextual and personal

factors concerning employee outcomes. Therefore, this study has practical implications for

organizations by offering actionable insights to foster a supportive work environment and

enhance employee creative outcomes.

Abusive supervision and employee creative behavior

According to Tepper (2000), AS is the degree to which supervisors consistently exhibit

aggressive verbal and non-verbal behaviors, excluding physical interactions. This includes

insulting subordinates through sarcastic remarks about their plans and regularly humiliating,

blaming and pressurizing them over an extended period (Martinko et al., 2013). Tepper’s

(2007) highly cited review and synthesis-based study further identified consistent evidence of

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