Social Media Bullying in the Workplace and Its Impact on Work Engagement: A Case of Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

The hotel industry has transformed the social and official interaction and communication landscape due to information technology. This has created a new venue for bullying, known as cyberbullying. This study aims to examine the impact of workplace cyberbullying on the work engagement of hotel employees while examining the mediating role of psychological well-being and work meaningfulness using the job demand resource model and conservation of resource theory. The data (n = 470) were collected from 4-star and 5-star hotel employees in Pakistan. The results reported that psychological well-being mediates the relationship between workplace cyberbullying and work engagement. Moreover, work meaningfulness also mediates the relationship between psychological well-being and work engagement. Findings suggest that the hotel industry of Pakistan should acknowledge the presence of cyberbullying and design policies and procedures to maintain a healthy work environment for employees’ psychological well-being and ensure that hotel employees find their work meaningful.

Keywords

• social media
• workplace cyberbullying
• work engagement
• psychological well-being
• work meaningfulness