Exploring the relationship between workplace bullying and objective cognitive performance

Workplace bullying is widely recognized for its negative impact on psychological and physical health, yet its effect on objective cognitive performance remains poorly understood. This paper investigates whether exposure to bullying directly impairs cognitive functioning—specifically attention and working memory—and whether 'preoccupying cognitions' (persistent, intrusive thoughts about the bullying) act as a mechanism that consumes cognitive resources, thereby reducing performance.

In Study 1, the researchers compared 47 university employees (self-identified as either bullied or non-bullied) using objective cognitive tests. In Study 2, they surveyed 70 hospitality and retail workers to test a mediation model, examining how bullying exposure relates to preoccupying cognitions and subsequent cognitive performance.

Study 1 provided evidence that self-identified targets of bullying performed significantly worse on tasks requiring central executive functioning—the component of working memory responsible for directing and coordinating attention. While other cognitive measures showed medium effect sizes, they did not reach statistical significance, likely due to the small sample size.

Study 2 confirmed that higher levels of bullying exposure are positively associated with increased preoccupying cognitions. These intrusive thoughts were found to mediate the negative relationship between bullying and performance on verbal memory, visual memory, and central executive tasks. The findings suggest that the mental energy required to process and worry about bullying experiences directly detracts from the cognitive capacity available for work tasks.

These results provide a new, objective lens for understanding the organizational costs of workplace bullying. By demonstrating that bullying causes measurable cognitive deficits, the study highlights that bullying is not just an interpersonal issue but a significant operational risk. The findings suggest that organizations should prioritize primary prevention to stop bullying before it begins, and that recovery efforts for targets should focus on strategies to reduce the burden of preoccupying cognitions to restore cognitive function.