Scientists from the University of Manitoba derived their findings from an experiment involving the results of 110 studies done in the span of 21 years, all of which investigated the effects of both sexual and non-sexual aggression in the workplace.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the researchers examined the effects of such treatments as rudeness, reminders of past mistakes, constant criticisms, being shouted at, being the subject of workplace gossip, being ostracized, and being publicly insulted about personal lives and attitude.
The studies concluded that such attitudes resulted in several forms of psychological stress such as anxiety, anger, job dissatisfaction, and more intense intentions of quitting. These effects of non-sexual harassment were more intense compared to those experienced by the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.
University of Manitoba professor M. Sandy Hershcovis, study author, said that instances of non-sexual aggression at work have a subtler manner of eventually affecting workers, as they are not specifically briefed in terms of detection of these incidents. This is because companies have placed more importance and attention on the detection and reaction to sexual harassments.
Also, some forms of bullying, such as ostracism and deprivation of needed resources, are less obvious, thereby harder to prove, as reported by Newsday.
In effect, in terms of non-sexual abuses, "victims [are left] to fend for themselves," said Hershcovis, who undertook the study with Julian Barling, a professor at Queen's University in Ontario.
A study by Debra Corner of Hofstra University found that out of 28 percent of respondents determined to have been subjected to workplace bullying, only 9.4 percent were aware of it.
Hershcovis and Barling's report was presented at the International Conference on Work, Stress and Health, held at Washington D.C.
