Workplace Bullying Through the Lens of Labor: Psychological Mechanisms, Existential Impact, and Organizational and Social Dynamics

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite submissions for the Special Issue titled “Workplace Bullying Through the Lens of Labor: Psychological Mechanisms, Existential Impact, and Organizational and Social Dynamics.” This Special Issue aims to investigate the broad and significant effects of workplace bullying on targets, families, organizations, workplaces, and society at large—approached explicitly through the lens of labor.

Workplace bullying and its psychosocial outcomes have been increasingly recognized as important global health and labor concerns. Safe and dignified working conditions are essential for mental well-being, social cohesion, worker protection, and sustainable productivity. Taking labor as our central analytical lens, this Special Issue positions workplace bullying not merely as an organizational or interpersonal issue, but as a structural labor question with profound implications for workers, employment relations, and the governance of work.

This Special Issue aims to explore the human cost of workplace bullying, considering it not only as a violation of organizational ethics but also as a profound existential, social, labor-related, and legal concern. Workplace bullying undermines a target’s sense of identity, belonging, and meaning. It fractures their relationship with themselves, with others, with their workplace, and with the wider world. Viewed through the lens of labor, these fractures also reveal underlying asymmetries of power, precarity, and institutional vulnerability that shape who is exposed to bullying—and who is protected from it.

We invite submissions exploring the multifaceted phenomenon of workplace bullying through psychological, existential, social, organizational, labor, employment-relations, and legal perspectives. Contributions may include theoretical papers that enhance conceptual frameworks for understanding and addressing workplace bullying; empirical studies employing quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods to test interventions or explore antecedents and outcomes; case studies providing in-depth analyses of practical applications and organizational responses; comprehensive review articles synthesizing existing research and identifying future directions; as well as practice-oriented reports sharing best practices, program evaluations, labor and employment policy analyses, legal and regulatory analyses, or other approaches relevant to bullying prevention and intervention. Interdisciplinary collaboration and practice-informed perspectives are strongly encouraged.

The scope of the Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Workplace bullying through the lens of labor: power, precarity, and institutional roots;
• Workplace bullying as an existential threat: loss of meaning and identity;
• The traumatizing effects of workplace bullying on targets, families, and witnesses;
• Coping strategies and post-traumatic growth following workplace bullying;
• Mental health and occupational outcomes related to bullying exposure;
• Mediators, moderators, and resilience factors mitigating or exacerbating bullying impacts;
• Silent complicity: workplace bullying as a symptom of social and existential collapse;
• Organizational ramifications of workplace bullying and its enduring impacts on sustainability;
• Cross-cultural perspectives and comparative studies on workplace bullying dynamics;
• Psychological approaches: coaching and counseling support for targets;
• Organizational responses, including HR strategies, reporting systems, culture-building, and training programs;
• Labor and employment-relations perspectives on workplace bullying;
• Precarious employment, job insecurity, and vulnerability to workplace bullying;
• Worker protection, collective representation, and institutional responses to workplace bullying;
• Labor policies, employment regulation, and workplace bullying prevention;
• The role of trade unions, worker representatives, and collective mechanisms in bullying prevention and intervention;
• Legal and regulatory approaches to workplace bullying;
• Worker rights, employer responsibilities, and legal remedies;
• Comparative legal frameworks and policy responses to workplace bullying;
• Emerging trends and future directions in workplace bullying research.

We look forward to your contributions as we deepen our understanding of workplace bullying through the lens of labor.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Please send the manuscript to the Guest Editor or to the Managing Editor, Sandee Pan (sandee.pan@mdpi.com), of Merits. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jale Minibas-Poussard
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Merits is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.