Us and Them: Understanding Upwards Bullying through the lens of Social Identity Theory

As the nature of managerial work is changing and becoming ever more demanding it is argued that managers are increasingly vulnerable to becoming the recipients of workplace bullying from their staff. The possibility of a manager being bullied by their staff has been under explored within the bullying literature. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘upwards bullying’. It is argued that due to the essential role managers play in organisations, and the significant costs workplace bullying has been found to have on individuals and organisations, it is essential that we begin to investigate the real possibility of staff bullying managers. This paper applies social identity theory to allow a further understanding of the phenomenon.