The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy and Organizational Dehumanization on the Effect of Workplace Bullying on Work Engagement

Bullying is becoming increasingly prevalent in today’s workplaces. Employees may be subjected to bullying in many different ways, such as professional humiliation, denial of access to resources, and isolation. Studies reveal that bullying has highly destructive effects, both on an individual level and within an organizational context. Based on this, one objective of this study is to examine the impact of workplace bullying on work engagement. Another objective is to separately examine the mediating roles of self-efficacy and organizational dehumanization on this impact. The data used in the research were collected via face-to-face surveys from 205 public and private bank employees working in the province of Niğde. The Jamovi program was used for data analysis, and the mediating effects of self-efficacy and organizational dehumanization on the relationship between workplace bullying and work engagement were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The research findings indicate that workplace bullying has an inverse relationship with work engagement, and that self-efficacy and organizational dehumanization mediate this relationship independently. The results indicate that bullying not only leads to a negative self-perception among employees but also causes internal psychological damage resulting from the perspectives of others. This finding highlights the serious, dark side of workplace bullying that should not be taken lightly. This study suggests that the causes and consequences of bullying—which have a negative impact on employees and the organization—should be examined, and that measures should be taken to mitigate its effects.