Bullying by aggressive and intimidating behaviour

Bullying by intimidation/isolation

Bullying by abuse of power/ignoring

Bullying by abuse of power/exclusion

Bullying by setting unrealistic targets that are

unreasonable

Bullying by deliberate withholding of information

Harassment

Bullying by humiliation/undermining/unfair criticism

Bullying by abuse/misuse of power

1) The vulnerability of Western people

to errors of attribution and

cognition

2) ‘Vicious circles’ of conflict

3) Why Bullying and Harassment

policies can exacerbate

bullying and harassment

Cognitive biases‘when information processing is affected by a bias ... Then we are prone to react inappropriately’ Aaron T Beck

4

Fritz Heider ‘Lay scientist’ hypothesis

Attributions are the processes

through which an observer infers the causes of

others’ behaviour

Attribution Theory

We do not see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.

Dispositional

Attribute another person’s

behaviour to internal states

SituationalAttribute another person’s

behaviour to their

environment or circumstances

2 kinds of attribution

The strong tendency to

overestimate dispositional

factors

and to underestimate

situational factors

Fundamental Attribution Error

The behaviour ‘engulfs our perceptual field’

Spontaneous → deliberative

Cognitively busy

Explanations

We are capable of correcting

attribution errors

So, we are more prone to mistaken

attributions

i.e. we’re stressed or

angry

‘when processing

demands are high’

But this requires time and cognitive

effort

Can it be corrected?

11

I see you – I make dispositionalattributions

I don’t see me, but I know my

internal states – I make

situational attributions

Actor observer differences

‘the tendency to take credit for success and deny

responsibility for failure’

The Self-Serving Bias

‘We readily bring to mind factors within the person’s

control that might explain his or her behaviour, and tend to

ignore or dismiss factors beyond his or her control that might

explain the behaviour’

Accuser Bias Allred, p.85ff

‘If you’re seated at the negotiating table in the absolute, unshakable

conviction that your counterpart is a stubborn and difficult character, you

are likely to act in ways that will trigger and worsen those very

behaviours’ (Lax & Sebenius, 2006, p.81)

Why is it a problem?

Freeze perspectives at lowest moment

Accused is labelled a

bully

Accuser gets no

explanation or insight

Accuser invited to rehearse their

victimhood

Accused must be mad or bad

Fight or flight the only options

Bullying and Harassment