Varieties of workplace bullying in India: Towards a contextualized understanding.

Abstract

The study of workplace bullying (WPB) in India dates back over a decade, rendering it an established area of inquiry. This chapter, using the lens of D’Cruz and Noronha’s (Res Emot Organ 12:409–444, 2016) varieties of workplace bullying, elaborates on the sociocultural underpinnings of the phenomenon in the subcontinent, drawing on the extant literature. While the incidence rate of workplace bullying in India at over 40% across numerous inquiries is higher than many other countries, factors such as power, social categories, individualism and materialism are seen as triggers while factors such as spiritualism and social support are seen as antidotes. In showing how available empirical evidence from India demonstrates the role of the country’s ethos in the dynamics of workplace bullying, the chapter reinforces D’Cruz’s (Workplace bullying in India. Routledge, New Delhi, 2012; India: a paradoxical context for workplace bullying. In: Omari M, Paull M (eds) Workplace abuse, incivility and bullying: methodological and cultural perspectives. Routledge, London, pp 55–70, 2016a) thesis that India serves as a paradoxical context for the phenomenon. The chapter urges the incorporation of a sociocultural lens in studies of workplace bullying in India, maintaining that such an approach is critical to facilitate relevant and effective interventions to tackle the problem in the subcontinent. To this end, it proposes the adoption of metaphorical or a combination of dimensional and metaphorical frameworks in inquiries of workplace bullying in the country.