The Workplace: The Difference Between Bullying and Mobbing

Workplace bullying and workplace mobbing are both forms of hostile behavior that occur in a professional setting, but they differ in their scope and intensity.

  1. Workplace Bullying:
  • Workplace bullying involves repeated, targeted acts of aggression, intimidation, or harassment directed towards an individual by one or more colleagues.
  • Bullying behaviors may include verbal abuse, exclusion, spreading rumors, sabotage of work tasks, or other forms of mistreatment.
  • The bullying is typically focused on one individual and may be driven by personal animosity, jealousy, or a desire to exert power over the victim.
  • While workplace bullying can have serious consequences for the victim’s mental health and job performance, it often remains confined to interactions between the bully and the target.
  1. Workplace Mobbing:
  • Workplace mobbing, on the other hand, involves a group of individuals systematically targeting and harassing a single person within the organization.
  • Mobbing behaviors are more organized and coordinated than bullying and may involve multiple colleagues ganging up on the victim.
  • The harassment may be relentless and pervasive, with the goal of ostracizing, isolating, and ultimately driving the victim out of the workplace.
  • Mobbing often escalates over time and may involve not only direct harassment but also efforts to undermine the victim’s reputation, credibility, and professional standing.
  • Workplace mobbing can have severe and long-lasting effects on the victim’s well-being and may lead to psychological trauma, career derailment, and even forced resignation.

In summary, while both workplace bullying and mobbing involve harmful behavior towards individuals in a professional setting, workplace mobbing typically entails a more systematic and collective campaign of harassment orchestrated by a group of colleagues, whereas workplace bullying may involve more isolated incidents of mistreatment by one or more individuals.

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