Colleen Leclercq, Linda Ronnie
Abstract
Workplace bullying remains a pervasive organisational challenge with significant implications for employee psychological well-being. Despite established ethical standards and legislative frameworks, bullying continues to inflict considerable harm on individuals, teams, and organisations. This literature review examines the relationship between workplace bullying and employee psychological well-being, with particular focus on the moderating role of individual coping styles. Through a review of 72 studies spanning seminal and contemporary research, this paper explores how different coping strategies – ranging from passive avoidance to active problem-focussed approaches – affect the impact of bullying on employee well-being outcomes. Coping strategies emerge as critical moderating factors with problem-focussed approaches generally associated with better well-being outcomes compared to passive or emotion-focussed strategies. However, research demonstrates that victims often shift from active to passive coping as bullying intensifies, potentially exacerbating negative outcomes. Findings suggest that organisational culture, leadership behaviour, and available support systems significantly influence the effectiveness of individual coping strategies. This review contributes to understanding how personal coping mechanisms interact with workplace stressors to influence psychological well-being, providing insights for developing targeted interventions and organisational policies to protect employee mental health and enhance workplace productivity.