Research on workplace bullying has grown significantly over the last 25 years. An impressive body of literature is available on causes of workplace bullying. However, researchers have typically focussed solely on either individual factors or environmental factors as antecedents of bullying. Very limited research effort has been directed towards examining an interactionist perspective considering, both, individual as well as environmental factors as antecedents of bullying . The present study aims to fill this gap by examining fit perceptions as potential antecedents of workplace bullying. The study also aims to examine the effects of two types of fit -- person–job fit (PJ fit) and person–supervisor fit (PS fit) on workplace bullying as most of the bullying acts are work or job-driven (Parzefall & Salin, 2010), and workplace bullying is an interpersonal phenomenon involving a superior and his subordinates (Salin, 2003). We proposed and found support for our hypotheses that PJ fit and PS fit negatively relate to workplace bullying.
Research suggests that fits are contingent on culture and this is true for workplace bullying as culture is found to influence employees’ perceptions and reactions towards workplace bullying. However, very little research effort has been directed towards exploring the role of culture in bullying dynamics. Given the unique sociocultural context of the India, which has a high power distance culture(Hofstede, 1980), the present study aims to examine the moderating role of power distance orientation (PDO) in the fit perceptions–bullying relationship. We proposed and found support for our hypotheses that PDO moderates fit perceptions (PJ fit, PS fit) and workplace bullying relationships, such that the fit perceptions and bullying relationships are weaker for employees with high, as opposed to low, power distance orientation.
