# Workplace Incivility, Bullying, and Mental Health-Related Outcomes Among University Faculty: A Narrative Review

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how workplace incivility and bullying affect the mental health and job satisfaction of university faculty.

## Contribution

The study provides a narrative review of the mental health impacts of workplace incivility and bullying among university faculty.

## Key findings

- Higher levels of incivility are linked to lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intentions.
- Bullying is associated with occupational stress and psychiatric symptoms.
- Cyberbullying is negatively associated with job satisfaction.

## Abstract

University faculty, particularly in health-related disciplines, perform multiple roles in teaching, research, administration, and student support. Consequently, negative interpersonal behavior may have meaningful implications for well-being and retention. Workplace incivility involves low-intensity disrespect with ambiguous intent; workplace bullying or mobbing involves repeated negative acts over time, often with a power imbalance; and workplace cyberbullying occurs via electronic communication.

We conducted a narrative review with a structured search and selection approach to summarize quantitative studies examining workplace incivility, workplace bullying/mobbing, and workplace cyberbullying among university faculty and their associations with mental health and work-related outcomes. The search used English-language terms in PubMed and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Japanese/English keyword combinations in Ichushi-Web.

Six studies met our inclusion criteria. Across studies, higher levels of incivility or uncivil workplace environments were associated with lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intentions; one two-wave study suggested negative work rumination as a mediating factor. Evidence on bullying and mobbing indicates associations with occupational stress symptoms and, in a clinical/forensic evaluation context, substantial psychiatric symptom burden. Evidence on workplace cyberbullying is limited but suggests a negative association with job satisfaction.