Effects of mobbing on justice beliefs and adjustment

Recent research on psychological consequences of negative treatment at the workplace has focused new interest on the targeted employee's just-world assumptions. In line with prior work, the present study sought evidence for the hypothesis that repeated and prolonged exposure to such treatment has adverse effects on the belief in a just world (BJW) and its function in sustaining a positive outlook and mental health. To this end, a group of 54 self-labeled victims of mobbing was compared with a matched control group on measures of their justice beliefs and dimensions of their adjustment (depression, optimism, pessimism, trust, and cynicism). The results showed that the perceived victimization by mobbing (rather-than the mere frequency of exposure to negative acts at the workplace) was associated with worse adjustment and a weaker belief in the justness of the world. In particular, a personal BJW was found to be sensitive to the perceived victimization, whereas a general BJW did not differ between victims and controls. The relationships of justice beliefs to adjustment dimensions were basically unaffected by victim status. Among the dimensions of adjustment, trust proved to be most strongly associated with victimization and justice beliefs.