Research and Theory on Workplace Aggression

Book excerpt: Workplace aggression is a serious problem for workers and their employers. As such, an improved scientific understanding of workplace aggression has important implications. This volume, which includes chapters written by leading workplace aggression scholars, addresses three primary topics: the measurement, predictors and consequences of workplace aggression; the social context of workplace aggression; and the prevention of workplace aggression. Of note, the book encompasses the various labels used by researchers to refer to workplace aggression, such as 'abusive supervision', 'bullying', 'incivility' and 'interpersonal conflict'. This approach differs from those of previous books on the topic in that it does not focus on a particular type of workplace aggression, but covers an intentionally broad conceptualization of workplace aggression - specifically, it considers aggression from both the aggressors' and the targets' perspectives and includes behaviors enacted by several types of perpetrators, including supervisors, coworkers and customers.