The impacts of workplace bullying are many and complex. A key reason for this is that bullying at work is not a short term experience. It is a pattern of behaviour that develops and escalates at work over a longer period of time. The longer it goes on, the greater the harm and injury to individual psychological health. It also draws in more and more players (individual employees, managers, HR, family and friends) as it progresses into an escalating drama spiral which can often not lead to positive outcomes for those bullied targets.
A recent research paper (Farley et al, 2025) explored the long term impact of bullying on target personality change, adding to our knowledge of it’s harmful impacts. Whether this is a an injury or symptom, to this author that is not clear. There is limited research on this topic to be able to state one or the other.
But this research helps us to increase our understanding of the harmful effects of bullying and the implications for Australian workplaces with increasing awareness of psychosocial risk management.
The link between workplace bullying and personality change – a 4 year study
This study explores the impact of workplace bullying on personality change using a sample of 2469 employed Swiss workers over a 4 year time frame. The study taking place over 4 years is a key important component as it provides an insight into the longer term effects of workplace bullying and the harm caused.
The study itself focused on five personality traits; agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Definitions of these can be found in the table below.
In general, personality traits are considered relatively stable. However, theories suggested that change can occur as a result of a need to behave in a different way to how we normally might in certain circumstances. In the case of workplace bullying, targets often need to adjust significantly and in an on-going way compared to how they normally might respond in other situations.
What this research found was that bullying was associated with a decrease in conscientiousness and extraversion, and an increase in neuroticism. However, it didn’t have any significant impact in changing agreeableness and openness. Importantly, what was supported was that workplace bullying can lead to personality trait change and this has an impact over a longer period of time.
When the target becomes the performance managed
Long term harm and injury caused by workplace bullying is not new. There have been a number of successful negligence cases that have been brought against employers resulting in wins for employees who have been harmed by bullying at work. Those employees still hadn’t recovered some years later when the matter was finalised in court.
However, this research tells us about employees who remain in the workplace and the possible impact on their behaviour at work.
- A less conscientious employee may be perceived as less organised (and less productive) and dependable by those around them and their managers.
- Less extravert behaviour may be interpreted as less enthusiastic and less dedicated to the work goals (not dedicated to the cause).
- More neurotic behaviour may be perceived as poorly behaved and less engaged with their work and colleagues (more trouble to the company).
This could, and often does, result in bullied employees being performance managed themselves because of the impact of bullying on them.
Implications for Employers
Ultimately, the most effective solution that eliminates hazards is to prevent harm. In Australia, employers have a positive duty to effectively identify and eliminate workplace psychosocial hazards and manage risk under health and safety legislation, of which bullying is one. (Safe Work Australia, Worksafe Victoria)
Strategies employers can implement to prevent harmful bullying behaviours include:
- Creating a strong Conflict Management Climate
Ensure employees know conflicts will be addressed fairly, consistently, and early. This prevents frustration from escalating into harmful conflict and bullying. - Developing leadership capability
Equip managers and supervisors with practical skills to recognise early signs of conflict, step in constructively, and model respectful behaviour. Inclusive and ethical leadership reduces bullying risk, while laissez-faire leadership increases it. - Ensure role clarity and responsibility
Reduce role ambiguity and workload conflict, as unclear expectations are well-established precursors to interpersonal conflict and bullying.
Unfortunately, it’s likely to be some time before most workplaces effectively prevent bullying. Therefore, it is important that workplace’s maintain supportive approaches for targets who have experienced bullying, to help reduce and recover from the impacts. This includes options such as counseling, therapy and mediation.
