Author Identifier (ORCID)

Ben Farr-Wharton: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9987-934X

Tim Bentley: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4721-8405

Abstract

Hierarchical bullying in public healthcare organizations is an entrenched negative behaviour that results in a range of adverse outcomes for staff, including diminished wellbeing. This study integrates social exchange and conservation of resources theories as a lens for formulating hypotheses and employs multilevel statistical modelling to examine whether team-level compassion moderates the impact of hierarchical bullying on wellbeing. Using multilevel statistical modelling, the study analysed cross-sectional data from 632 healthcare workers nested within 48 teams in a single public health district in Australia. The findings indicate that work teams with higher levels of team compassion can mitigate the negative effects of hierarchical bullying on employee wellbeing. The results imply that investing in developing compassion within teams is an effective strategy for mitigating some harmful effects of hierarchical bullying on employee outcomes.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2025

Volume

31

Issue

3

Publication Title

Journal of Management & Organization

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

School

School of Business and Law / Centre for Work + Wellbeing

RAS ID

60118

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Comments

Farr-Wharton, B., Simpson, A. V., Brunetto, Y., & Bentley, T. (2025). The role of team compassion in mitigating the impact of hierarchical bullying. Journal of Management & Organization, 31(3), 1419-1433. https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2023.24

First Page

1419

Last Page

1433

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1017/jmo.2023.24