“I had my bully, and it was excruciating. Not only the bully, but the intimidation I felt.”
Robert Cormier
A new study by Dr. Jean Decety, a professor in psychology and psychiatry at the University of Chicago and colleagues at the University of Chicago has found that the brain scans of young, aggressive bullies suggest they actually enjoy seeing others in pain ((Decety, J., Michalska, K.J., Akitsuki, Y., & Lahey, B.B. (2008). Atypical empathic responses in adolescents with aggressive conduct disorder: a functional MRI investigation. Biological Psychology)).
The researchers used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans of eight 16 to 18 year-old boys with aggressive conduct disorder (psychological diagnosis of bullying teenagers) and compared them to eight matched adolescents without this clinical disorder.
The brain scans showed decreased activation of areas associated with empathy and increased activity in an area of the brain associated with rewards when the aggressive boys watched a video of someone inflicting pain on another person. In contrast, the control group did not have the same response.
A recent prospective study of 506 males and 3,570 females measured “perceived justice†(supervisory practices) and absenteeism due to illness and self-reported health ((Elovainio, M. et al., 2002. Organizational Justice: Evidence of a New Psychosocial Predictor of Health American Journal of Public Health, 92, 105-108)).
The rates of absence due to sickness among those perceiving low justice were 1.2 to 1.9 times higher than among those perceiving high justice. These associations remained significant even after statistical adjustment for behavioral risks, workload, job control, and social support.
Gary Namie,Ph.D. who is a social psychologist and founder of the Workplace Bullying and Trauma Institute in Bellingham, Washington has studied bosses that terrorize others (70% of all workplace bullying is done by those in leadership roles). His 2003 study found that 37 percent of victims were fired, 33 percent quit and 17 percent were transferred. The bullies were punished in only 4 percent of the cases, while they were transferred in 9 percent ((Namie, G. (2003). Workplace bullying: Escalated incivility. Ivey Business Journal, November/December, 1-6)).
According to the 2007 WBI-Zogby Survey on workplace bullying, 45% of targeted individuals suffer stress-related health problems including:
- Debilitating Anxiety, Panic Attacks (>80%)
- Clinical Depression: new to person or exacerbated condition previously controlled (39%)
- Post-traumatic Stress (PTSD) from deliberate human-inflicted abuse (30% of targeted women; 21% of men)
It seems that bullies might actually biologically enjoy hurting their victims and might not easily modify their emotionally damaging behavior. Putting up with a bully leader might literally make you sick.
Although frustrating, looking for another gig and at least reporting the bully behavior to human resources seems prudent for your own health and potentially the health of others in your work team.
I guess “old dogs don’t really learn new tricks”….Be well…..
[tags]emotional intelligence, competent jerks, stress, perceived justice, PTSD, anxiety, job burnout, leadership, heart disease, talent management, engagement, productivity, bad bosses, kenneth nowack, ken nowack, nowack[/tags]
Ken Nowack
Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)
