Dysfunctional Retention: The Case of Abused Worker Syndrome
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Extending work from the realm of counseling psychology into the work environment, we examine the workplace complement of “battered person/spouse syndrome” in which workers stay with the organization despite experiencing abuse. We define this abused worker syndrome (AWS) as an association of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-type symptoms and other symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression, low self-esteem), resulting from aversive incidents of psychological (i.e., non-physical) abuse at work. Our presentation will examine the contextual, relational, and individual antecedents of AWS, the psychological processes underlying targets staying, along with the associated workplace outcomes experienced by the targeted worker. We contribute a conceptual model and research propositions to explain why and when AWS occurs, and we identify implications for researchers to explore this line of inquiry and for organizations to prevent and mitigate AWS. Specifically related to the SHRM BoCK representation, we will discuss how various types of communication can lead to AWS, relationship management to avoid those types of communication, and the ethical practices leadership should follow to negate instances which may lead to AWS.
Date
October 2018
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
presentations
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Dysfunctional Retention: The Case of Abused Worker Syndrome
Extending work from the realm of counseling psychology into the work environment, we examine the workplace complement of “battered person/spouse syndrome” in which workers stay with the organization despite experiencing abuse. We define this abused worker syndrome (AWS) as an association of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-type symptoms and other symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression, low self-esteem), resulting from aversive incidents of psychological (i.e., non-physical) abuse at work. Our presentation will examine the contextual, relational, and individual antecedents of AWS, the psychological processes underlying targets staying, along with the associated workplace outcomes experienced by the targeted worker. We contribute a conceptual model and research propositions to explain why and when AWS occurs, and we identify implications for researchers to explore this line of inquiry and for organizations to prevent and mitigate AWS. Specifically related to the SHRM BoCK representation, we will discuss how various types of communication can lead to AWS, relationship management to avoid those types of communication, and the ethical practices leadership should follow to negate instances which may lead to AWS.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology