Start Here
- - Start Here
    
    Could you be bullied
    and not know it?
    
    Frequently Asked Questions
  - Bullying Basics
    
    • Workplace Bullying defined
    
    • Early Signs
    
    • Who Gets Targeted
    
    • Target Selection Factors
    
    • Prior Abuse (Research)
    
    • How Bullying Happens
  - Book for Targets
    
    Target DVD
    
    Podcasts
    
    Webinars
  - • Domestic Violence & Bullying
    
    • A Typical Workplace Bullying Scenario
    
    • Employers' Reaction
    
    • U.S. Employer Attitudes
    
    • Protecting Bullies?!
Impact
- - On Targets' Health
    
    • Stress-Related Physical Harm
    
    • Target Health Survey
    
    • Psychological Harm
    
    • Coping (Research)
    
    • Do Therapists' Know Bullying? (Research)
  - Social & Economic
    
    • Loss of Social Support
    
    • Coworker Responses
    
    • Economic Harm
    
    • Target Job Loss
    
    • Post-Bullying Finances
  - Share your story, get advice.
    
    A Suicide Case Study
  - On Affected Others
    
    • Impact on Coworkers
    
    • Impact on Family
    
    Webinar for Family & Friends
Solutions
- - WBI Strategies
    
    • Target Action Plan
    
    • Making the 'Business Case'
    
    • Documenting
    
    • Selecting A Therapist
    
    • Finding an Attorney
    
    • Disability vs. W.C.
    
    • Finding a New Job
    
    • Changing Careers
  - Personalized Help
    
    Jessi Eden Brown,
    MS, LMHC, LPC, NCC
    206.735.7071
    Write your story,
    get written advice.
  - Advice DVDs
    
    Target DVD Counseling DVD
  - Lawsuit? Think first
    
    Expert Witness

Research

WBI Media Collection

Results of the 2007 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.

Key Findings

The results are based on 7,740 respondents who comprised a sample representative of all American adults in August, 2007. The margin of error was +/- 1.1 percentage points.

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. That is a total of 49% of workers. Conversely, 45% report neither experiencing nor witnessing bullying. Hence, a silent epidemic.

A Different Kind of Harassment

Bullying is 4 times more common than harassment (based on illegal discrimination). In only one out of five (20%) of 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 experience 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.