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WBI Research Begins With You

Your responses to the questions contribute to knowledge about Workplace Bullying. We've been collecting data and interpreting findings since 1998.

Results of the WBI U.S.
Workplace Bullying Survey

The Workplace Bullying Institute wrote the survey and commissioned Zogby International to collect data for the first representative study of all adult Americans on the topic of workplace bullying. The survey was sponsored by a generous gift from the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention Cindy Waitt, Executive Director. The principal findings convinced doubters that bullying was a substantial problem of epidemic proportions. The findings of the study are available below.

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Key Findings


Zogby International conducted 7,740 interviews to create a representative sample of all American adults in August, 2007. The margin of error was +/- 1.1 percentage points.


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  • 37% of workers have been bullied: 13% currently and 24% previously
  • Most bullies are bosses (72%)
  • More perpetrators are men (60%) than are women(40%)
  • Most Targets (57%) are women
  • Women bullies target women (71%); men target men (54%)
  • Bullying is 4 times more prevalent than illegal discriminatory harassment
  • 62% of employers ignore the problem
  • 45% of Targets suffer stress-related health problems
  • 40% of bullied individuals never tell their employers
  • Only 3% of bullied people file lawsuits

Prevalence

37% of the U.S. workforce (an est. 54 million Americans) report being bullied at work; an additional 12% witness it. 49% of workers. Simultaneously 45% report neither experiencing nor witnessing bullying. Hence, a Òsilent epidemic.Ó

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A Different Kind of Harassment

Bullying is 4 times more common than harassment (based on illegal discrimination). In only one of five bullying cases does discriminatory conduct play a role.

Bullying Damages Employees' Health

The mythology surrounding bullying is that targets complain and litigate frequently. However, 45% of targets had stress-related health problems. WBI 2003 research found that targeted individuals suffer debilitating anxiety, panic attacks, clinical depression (39%), and even post-traumatic stress (PTSD, 30% of women; 21% of men).

In addition once targeted, a person has a 64% chance of losing the job for no reason. Despite the health harm, 40% never report it. Only 3% sue and 4% complain to state or federal agencies.

WBI owns the copyright to the survey questions and results. Do not cite without crediting the Workplace Bullying Institute.