Mobbing, as a form of moral harassment in the workplace, describes the repeated aggressive or abusive behavior directed against an employee. It is manifested through intimidating actions, verbal attacks, or organizational practices in the structuring of work, and aims at creating a hostile and humiliating environment that violates the employee’s personality, dignity, and physical and mental integrity, ultimately seeking to force their isolation and/or resignation.
Perpetrators frequently present certain personality disorders. They often suffer from complexes and feelings of inferiority, while many of them display a marked emotional detachment.
Although there are no specialized research data, studies report that approximately one in ten Greek employees experiences conditions of workplace bullying. In recent years the phenomenon of mobbing has intensified significantly, as an increasing number of colleagues—from universities as well as other professional settings—report such incidents. The rise is particularly pronounced, driven by unemployment and job insecurity, contemporary working conditions, and power dynamics.
Backstage political maneuvering and unrestrained competition in the workplace have facilitated the spread of mobbing, while the pandemic and the associated confinement further exacerbated the problem. For many employees, the workplace is thus transformed into a genuine nightmare.
Mobbing typically constitutes an expression of the perpetrator’s psychopathology. Such individuals often exhibit personality disorders, suffer from complexes and feelings of inferiority, and experience difficulties in healthy socialization, emotional relatedness, and empathy toward others; many of them are emotionally barren. In any case, the outcome is that, on the basis of this personality structure, they behave in this manner in order to conceal their own deficiencies and inadequacies. Furthermore, it is unfortunately observed that they frequently derive satisfaction from the torment and distress of their colleagues and aim at their psychosomatic exhaustion. The consequences for the victims can be dramatic.
Research has linked mobbing to the onset of melancholy, anxiety, depression, somatoform disorders, psychosomatic symptoms, and sleep disturbances, as well as to panic attacks, myocardial infarction, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts.
Particularly significant is also the association between moral harassment and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as relevant studies demonstrate high prevalence rates of this disorder among victims. However, the negative effects of this phenomenon on the health of the abused colleague also include a wide range of other serious symptoms—mental, physical, and cognitive.
These phenomena, moreover, poison the overall workplace climate, with repercussions for productivity, the sense of commitment, and levels of creativity, as the element of empathy is absent.
It is imperative that the organized state address this problem in a serious manner, as these developments have generated very high levels of tension. Greece cannot afford the non-utilization of valuable human capital through such medieval-type practices that provoke and intensify the phenomenon of mobbing.
Konstantinos Kouskoukis
Professor of Dermatology – Lawyer
B’ Vice President GDHI
President Hellenic Academy of Thermal Medicine
President World Academy of Chinese & Complimentary Medicine