Study: Workplace bullying rampant in the U.S.

According to a new study released by Radius Global Market Research, workplace bullying affects nearly half of U.S. employees. Rather than brash schoolyard violence and taunting, most workers are dealing with a subtler epidemic of incivility. Unfortunately, the effects of rampant bad behavior are serious and wide-ranging—for individuals and companies alike.

Companies might quibble over what, exactly, constitutes “bullying,” though the Workplace Bullying Institute describes it as “repeated mistreatment of an employee by one or more employees; abusive conduct that is threatening, humiliating, or intimidating; work sabotage, or verbal abuse.” Eighty-one percent of respondents to this survey said they’d either witnessed or experienced such behavior at work.