Coping with bullying at work: How do targets, bullies and bystanders deal with bullying?

This chapter reviews and discusses empirical research on coping and workplace bullying, in particularly looking at targets of bullying, but also briefly touching upon bystanders and perpetrators. While studies in the1990s tended to focus on how targets handled the bullying situation themselves, recent studies have also focused on the moderating role of coping in the bullying process. The picture painted by existing studies indicates that targets have limited opportunities to remedy the situation on their own. Although studies do show that some coping strategies may be helpful in reducing the risk of exposure to bullying as well as buffering against the aftermaths of bullying, many studies indicate that individual resources and coping strategies normally associated with good health and positive coping do not work in the expected manner or that they are less effective than assumed.