Workplace Mistreatment and Suicidal Behaviour: The Mediating Role of Hopelessness and Depression

Abstract

By integrating the Affective Event Theory and Hopelessness Theory of Suicide, this research study investigates the direct and indirect impact of workplace mistreatment on suicidal behavior in Pakistani bureaucrats. Based on a cross-sectional sample of 263 employees working in the government, the analysis will be done using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through SmartPLS 4.0. The model was able to test the direct, indirect, and serial hopelessness and depression mediation pathway. Findings in the workplace thwarting determine that mistreatment in the workplace is a significant predictor of suicidal behavior, both direct and indirect, with hopelessness , ) and depression ( , ). The observed chain: mistreatment  hopelessness  depression  suicidal behavior also showed a significant serial mediation effect at ( , ) and was able to explain 42.1% of the variance in the dependent construct. The results highlight the significance of early emotional programs in curbing suicidal consequences, especially in inflexible, high-power distance environments. This study contributes to the field of organizational psychology by demonstrating that affective and cognitive degradation coincide in unhealthy bureaucracies, leading to severe health outcomes.

References

Abramson, L. Y., Metalsky, G. I., & Alloy, L. B. (1989). Hopelessness depression: A theory-based subtype of depression. Psychological review, 96(2), 358.

Aquino, K., Grover, S. L., Bradfield, M., & Allen, D. G. (1999). The effects of negative affectivity, hierarchical status, and self-determination on workplace victimization. Academy of management journal, 42(3), 260-272.

Aquino, K., & Thau, S. (2009). Workplace victimization: Aggression from the target's perspective. Annual review of psychology, 60(1), 717-741.

Ashkanasy, N. M., & Daus, C. S. (2002). Emotion in the workplace: The new challenge for managers. Academy of Management Perspectives, 16(1), 76-86.

Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of occupational health psychology, 22(3), 273.

Barsade, S. G. (2002). The ripple effect: Emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. Administrative science quarterly, 47(4), 644-675.

Basch, J., & Fisher, C. D. (1998). Affective events-emotions matrix: A classification of work events and associated emotions. Bond University Connecticut.

Bond, M. H. E. (1996). The handbook of Chinese psychology. Oxford University Press.

Bowling, N. A., & Beehr, T. A. (2006). Workplace harassment from the victim's perspective: a theoretical model and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 998.

Branch, S., Ramsay, S., & Barker, M. (2013). Workplace bullying, mobbing and general harassment: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(3), 280-299.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (2005). Making human beings human: Bioecological perspectives on human development. sage.

Brown, G. K., Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Grisham, J. R. (2000). Risk factors for suicide in psychiatric outpatients: a 20-year prospective study. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 68(3), 371.

Brown, G. K., Wenzel, A., & Rudd, M. D. (2011). Cognitive therapy for suicidal patients.

Carroll, H. (2024). Suicidality: The Role of the Workplace Clemson University].

Civilotti, C., Acquadro Maran, D., Garbarino, S., & Magnavita, N. (2022). Hopelessness in police officers and its association with depression and burnout: A pilot study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(9), 5169.

Clement, D. N., Awad, S. A., Oliphant, V. N., & Wingate, L. R. (2024). Race-based rejection sensitivity and the integrated motivational volitional model of suicide in a sample of black women. Clinical Psychological Science, 12(2), 305-319.

Cortina, L. M., & Magley, V. J. (2009). Patterns and profiles of response to incivility in the workplace. Journal of occupational health psychology, 14(3), 272.

Coyne, I., Seigne, E., & Randall, P. (2000). Predicting workplace victim status from personality. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 9(3), 335-349.

Dimotakis, N., Scott, B. A., & Koopman, J. (2011). An experience sampling investigation of workplace interactions, affective states, and employee well‐being. Journal of organizational behavior, 32(4), 572-588.

Ding, C., Duan, Z., Luo, W., Li, L., Li, G., Li, X.,…Yang, R. (2024). Pathways linking workplace violence and suicidal ideation/non-suicidal self-injury among nurse staff: the mediating role of loneliness and depressive symptoms. BMC nursing, 23(1), 363.

Djurkovic, N., McCormack, D., & Casimir, G. (2008). Workplace bullying and intention to leave: the moderating effect of perceived organisational support. Human Resource Management Journal, 18(4), 405-422.

Einarsen, S., Skogstad, A., Rørvik, E., Lande, Å. B., & Nielsen, M. B. (2018). Climate for conflict management, exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: a moderated mediation analysis. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(3), 549-570.

Einarsen, S. V., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C. L. (2020). The concept of bullying and harassment at work: The European tradition. In Bullying and harassment in the workplace (pp. 3-53). CRC press.

Follmer, K. B., & Follmer, D. J. (2021). Longitudinal relations between workplace mistreatment and engagement–The role of suicidal ideation among employees with mood disorders. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 162, 206-217.

G Miner, A., M Glomb, T., & Hulin, C. (2005). Experience sampling mood and its correlates at work. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 78(2), 171-193.

Glasø, L., Matthiesen, S. B., Nielsen, M. B., & Einarsen, S. (2007). Do targets of workplace bullying portray a general victim personality profile? Scandinavian journal of psychology, 48(4), 313-319.

Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotional regulation in the workplace: A new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of occupational health psychology, 5(1), 95.

Gullander, M., Hogh, A., Hansen, Å. M., Persson, R., Rugulies, R., Kolstad, H. A.,…Mors, O. (2014). Exposure to workplace bullying and risk of depression. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 56(12), 1258-1265.

Haeffel, G. J., Gibb, B. E., Metalsky, G. I., Alloy, L. B., Abramson, L. Y., Hankin, B. L.,…Swendsen, J. D. (2008). Measuring cognitive vulnerability to depression: Development and validation of the cognitive style questionnaire. Clinical psychology review, 28(5), 824-836.

Haeffel, G. J., Hershenberg, R., Goodson, J. T., Hein, S., Square, A., Grigorenko, E. L., & Chapman, J. (2017). The hopelessness theory of depression: Clinical utility and generalizability. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41(4), 543-555.

Haslam, S. A., Reicher, S. D., & Platow, M. J. (2020). The new psychology of leadership: Identity, influence and power. Routledge.

Hershcovis, M. S., & Barling, J. (2010). Towards a multi‐foci approach to workplace aggression: A meta‐analytic review of outcomes from different perpetrators. Journal of organizational behavior, 31(1), 24-44.

Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J.-P., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. Annual review of organizational psychology and organizational behavior, 5, 103-128.

Hoftede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and organizations: software of the mind: intercultural cooperation and its importance for survival. McGraw-Hill.

Hogh, A., Mikkelsen, E. G., & Hansen, A. M. (2011). Individual consequences of workplace bullying/mobbing. Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Developments in theory, research, and practice, 107, 128.

Howard, M. C., Follmer, K. B., Smith, M. B., Tucker, R. P., & Van Zandt, E. C. (2022). Work and suicide: An interdisciplinary systematic literature review. Journal of organizational behavior, 43(2), 260-285.

Ilies, R., Aw, S. S., & Pluut, H. (2015). Intraindividual models of employee well-being: what have we learned and where do we go from here? European journal of work and organizational psychology, 24(6), 827-838.

Kelner, W. C., Wolford-Clevenger, C., Garner, A. R., Elledge, L. C., & Stuart, G. L. (2025). Applying the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide to inform the association between bullying victimization and suicidal ideation in college students. Journal of American college health, 73(1), 281-289.

Kleiman, E. M., Liu, R. T., & Riskind, J. H. (2014). Integrating the interpersonal psychological theory of suicide into the depression/suicidal ideation relationship: A short-term prospective study. Behavior Therapy, 45(2), 212-221.

Kuo, W.-H., Gallo, J. J., & Tien, A. Y. (2001). Incidence of suicide ideation and attempts in adults: the 13-year follow-up of a community sample in Baltimore, Maryland. Psychological medicine, 31(7), 1181-1191.

Leon, M. R., Halbesleben, J. R., & Paustian-Underdahl, S. C. (2015). A dialectical perspective on burnout and engagement. Burnout research, 2(2-3), 87-96.

Leymann, H. (1996). The content and development of mobbing at work. European journal of work and organizational psychology, 5(2), 165-184.

Luo, Z., Wang, J., Zhou, Y., Mao, Q., Lang, B., & Xu, S. (2023). Workplace bullying and suicidal ideation and behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Public health, 222, 166-174.

Lutgen-Sandvik, P., & Tracy, S. J. (2012). Answering five key questions about workplace bullying: How communication scholarship provides thought leadership for transforming abuse at work. Management communication quarterly, 26(1), 3-47.

Malik, O. F., & Pichler, S. (2023). Linking Perceived Organizational Politics to Workplace Cyberbullying Perpetration: The Role of Anger and Fear: OF Malik, S. Pichler. Journal of Business Ethics, 186(2), 445-463.

Malik, O. F., & Pichler, S. (2024). Organizational politics, anger and workplace cyberbullying perpetration: a multigroup analysis of gender. Management Research Review, 47(9), 1400-1421.

Mathisen, G. E., Einarsen, S., & Mykletun, R. (2011). The relationship between supervisor personality, supervisors’ perceived stress and workplace bullying. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(4), 637-651.

Matthiesen, S. B., & Einarsen, S. (2004). Psychiatric distress and symptoms of PTSD among victims of bullying at work. British journal of guidance & counselling, 32(3), 335-356.

McLeavey, B. C., Daly, R. J., Ludgate, J. W., & Murray, C. M. (1994). Interpersonal Problem‐Solving skills training in the treatment of self‐poisoning patients. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 24(4), 382-394.

Nielsen, M. B., Indregard, A.-M. R., & Øverland, S. (2016). Workplace bullying and sickness absence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the research literature. Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 359-370.

Notelaers, G., Van der Heijden, B., Hoel, H., & Einarsen, S. (2019). Measuring bullying at work with the short-negative acts questionnaire: identification of targets and criterion validity. Work & Stress, 33(1), 58-75.

O'Connor, R. C., & Kirtley, O. J. (2018). The integrated motivational–volitional model of suicidal behaviour. Philosophical transactions of the royal society B: Biological sciences, 373(1754).

Ohly, S., & Schmitt, A. (2015). What makes us enthusiastic, angry, feeling at rest or worried? Development and validation of an affective work events taxonomy using concept mapping methodology. Journal of Business and Psychology, 30(1), 15-35.

Peterson, C., & Villanova, P. (1988). An expanded attributional style questionnaire. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97(1), 87.

Porath, C. L., & Pearson, C. M. (2010). The cost of bad behavior. Organizational dynamics, 39(1), 64-71.

Rodríguez-Muñoz, A., Baillien, E., De Witte, H., Moreno-Jiménez, B., & Pastor, J. C. (2009). Cross-lagged relationships between workplace bullying, job satisfaction and engagement: Two longitudinal studies. Work & Stress, 23(3), 225-243.

Ryu, J. W., Gonzalez-Mulé, E., & O'Boyle, E. H. (2024). Taking a heavier toll? Racial differences in the effects of workplace mistreatment on depression. Journal of Applied Psychology, 109(5), 611.

Salin, D., & Hoel, H. (2011). Organisational causes of workplace bullying. Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Developments in theory, research, and practice, 2, 227-243.

Samnani, A.-K., & Singh, P. (2012). 20 years of workplace bullying research: a review of the antecedents and consequences of bullying in the workplace. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(6), 581-589.

Schaufeli, W. B., & Taris, T. W. (2013). A critical review of the job demands-resources model: Implications for improving work and health. Bridging occupational, organizational and public health: A transdisciplinary approach, 43-68.

Schneider, B., González-Romá, V., Ostroff, C., & West, M. A. (2017). Organizational climate and culture: Reflections on the history of the constructs in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 468.

Shepherd, B. F., Kelly, L. M., Brochu, P. M., Wolff, J. C., & Swenson, L. P. (2023). An examination of theory-based suicidal ideation risk factors in college students with multiple marginalized identities. American journal of orthopsychiatry, 93(2), 107.

Skogstad, A., Torsheim, T., Einarsen, S., & Hauge, L. J. (2011). Testing the work environment hypothesis of bullying on a group level of analysis: Psychosocial factors as precursors of observed workplace bullying. Applied Psychology, 60(3), 475-495.

Tajfel, H., Turner, J., Austin, W. G., & Worchel, S. (2001). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. Intergroup relations: Essential readings, 94-109.

Tan, L., & Xia, T. (2023). Predictors on workplace suicidal ideation: from a social interaction perspective. Current Psychology, 42(8), 6131-6141.

Tomasson, K. (1990). Hopelessness as a predictor of suicide. American journal of psychiatry, 147(11), 1577-1577.

Travasso, J., & Raut, R. (2022). Feelings of injustice and suicide ideation among working people: the mediating role of stress and social support. IAHRW International Journal of Social Sciences Review, 10(1), 50-54.

Triandis, H. C. (2018). Individualism and collectivism. Routledge.

Van Wagoner, H. P. (2021). An Affective Events Theory Perspective on Mental Health in the Workplace University of Colorado at Boulder].

Wang, X., Wang, H., & Liu, J. (2024). A thousand miles of dike collapsed in an ant nest: family incivility predicts adolescents’ hopelessness and suicidal ideation. Current Psychology, 43(11), 10434-10447.

Weiss, H. M., & Cropanzano, R. (1996). Affective events theory. Research in organizational behavior, 18(1), 1-74.

Yun, J.-Y., Myung, S. J., & Kim, K. S. (2023). Associations among the workplace violence, burnout, depressive symptoms, suicidality, and turnover intention in training physicians: a network analysis of nationwide survey. Scientific reports, 13(1), 16804.

Zapf, D., & Einarsen, S. (2002). Individual antecedents of bullying: Victims and perpetrators. In Bullying and emotional abuse in the workplace (pp. 183-202). CRC Press.

Zhong, W., Liang, Q., Yang, A., & Yan, R. (2024). Why emotional neglect brings suicidal ideation? The mediating effect of meaning in life and the moderating effect of post-stress growth. Child Abuse & Neglect, 149, 106700.

Zohar, D., Tzischinski, O., & Epstein, R. (2003). Effects of energy availability on immediate and delayed emotional reactions to work events. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(6), 1082.