The Mediator Role of Negative Affect Impacted by Workplace Bullying on Intention to Leave and Conflict Handling Styles

Abstract

This research was intended to reveal the mediating role of negative affect within the effect of workplace bullying on intention to leave and conflict handling styles. The research was conducted in Konya and Isparta, in Turkey, among 350 health care employees. As a result of the study, workplace bullying and negative affect have a positive relationship. While negative affect has a negative relationship with conflict handling styles, a positive relationship with intention to leave. According to result of the study, it was determined that the variable negative affect has a fully-mediating role within the effect of workplace bullying on intention to leave and conflict handling styles. This study indicates that variable of negative affect has full mediating role within the negative impacts of workplace bullying on intention to leave and conflict handling styles. It is understood that as a result of bullying, individual should control emotions in order to conserve self. It means having individual emotional intelligence. Thus, it is expected that individual would expose less negative affective results (similarly mentioned in our study, decreasing conflict handling style and increasing intention to leave).  Hence, impact of a second variable is assumed.