Author

  • Mohamad Shahril Mohamad Besir

    • Faculty of Business and Management, UiTM Puncak Alam, Malaysia
    • Malaysia
  • Mohd. Zulkifli Abdullah

    • Faculty of Business and Management, UiTM Puncak Alam, Malaysia
    • Malaysia
  • Saadiah Juliana Saadun

    • Faculty of Business and Management, UiTM Puncak Alam, Malaysia
    • Malaysia
  • Siti Noraini Mohd. Tobi

    • Faculty of Business and Management, UiTM Puncak Alam, Malaysia
    • Malaysia
  • Nor Zaihan Mat Hasan @ Mat Hussin

    • Faculty of Business and Management, UiTM Puncak Alam, Malaysia
    • Malaysia
  • Ayman Hazim Huzahim

    • National Heart Institute, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    • Malaysia

Abstract

Internships have become crucial to help students make them stand out while at the same time providing training and work experience for the students. However, the issue of workplace aggression among internship students is increasing and is worrying many parties as it is a prevalent matter that internship students can be subjected to mistreatment in the workplace. Drawing from the Job Demand-Resource model and Conservation of Resources theory, this paper sought to identify the relationship between independent variables such as workplace bullying, interpersonal conflict, abusive supervision and anxiety among interns from the Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Puncak Alam campus who underwent internship in Klang Valley. An online questionnaire was distributed to the interns, and 128 completed sets were responded to. The results found that there were positive correlations between workplace bullying, abusive supervision and interpersonal conflict on anxiety among the interns. The findings suggest that aggression in the workplace correlates with psychological disorders as it can cause the interns to experience psychological strain such as anxiety. In general, the research aims to contribute to a better understanding of workplace aggression and anxiety to mitigate these conundrums and foster a positive and supportive atmosphere for internship students. Furthermore, both organizations and interns need to have the knowledge and skills to prevent them from experiencing psychological illnesses. The implications of the study will be further discussed in the paper.

Keywords

References

  • Ahmad, S. (2022). Caring for those in your charge: the role of servant leadership and compassion in managing bullying in the workplace, 34(1), 125–149. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-05-2022-0098
  • Alfandari, R., Enosh, G., Tzafrir, S. S. & Regehr, C. (2022). Understanding health outcomes following workplace aggression: A social exchange perspective. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(6), e3995-e4005.
  • Ali, S., Hussain, I. & Shahzad, F. (2022). A Multidimensional Model of Abusive Supervision and Work Incivility.
  • Almokhtar, A. A. J. M. J. & Azab Elsayed, A. (2019). Anxiety: Insights into Signs, Symptoms, Etiology, Pathophysiology and Treatment. East African Scholars Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(10), 580–591. http://www.easpublisher.com/easjms/
  • Basharat, R., A. A., S, Z. & A. M. (2019). Linking Workplace Deviance and Abusive Supervision: Moderating Role of Positive Psychological Capital. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 8(1), 95-111. doi: 10.33844/ijol.2020.60472
  • Cao, W., Li, P., C. van der Wal, R. & W. Taris, T. (2022). Leadership and workplace aggression: A meta-analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-21.
  • Fauzi, R., Sharoni, S. K. A., Bakar, S. F. A., Isa, S. N. I., Isa, R. & Yusof, R. C. (2022). Psychometric Properties of the Malay Version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-revised (NAQ-R) and Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Country Questionnaire on Workplace Bullying Among Nurses in Selangor, Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Medicine & Health Sciences, 18.
  • Gatti, P., Caputo, A. & Cortese, C. G. (2019). An initial validation of Tepper's Abusive Supervision Scale. BPA-Applied Psychology Bulletin (Bollettino di Psicologia Applicata), 67(284).
  • Geoffrion, S., Lamothe, J., Giguère, C. É. & Collin-Vézina, D. (2023). The effects of adherence to professional identity, workplace aggression, and felt accountability on child protection workers' professional quality of life. Child Abuse & Neglect, 135, 105950.
  • Goh, H. S., Hosier, S. & Zhang, H. (2022). Prevalence, Antecedents, and Consequences of Workplace Bullying among Nurses—A Summary of Reviews. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(14), 8256.
  • Gulum, Ö. & Jodi. E. (2023). The making and breaking of workplace bullying perpetration: A systematic review on the antecedents, moderators, mediators, outcomes of perpetration and suggestions for organizations. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 69, 1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2023.101823
  • Holmgren, R., Sørensen, K., Dalsager, L., Rugulies, R., Östberg, V. & LL, M. H. (2022). Workplace bullying, symptoms of anxiety and the interaction with leadership quality–a longitudinal study using dynamic panel models with fixed effects. Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, 49(1), 64-74.
  • Hunter, E. J., Eades, C. E. & Evans, J. M. M. (2022). Violence experienced by undergraduate nursing students during clinical placements: An online survey at a Scottish University. Nurse Education in Practice, 61, 103323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2022.103323
  • Jalali, A. (2020). Indirect effect of workplace bullying on emotional exhaustion through job insecurity among Malaysian workers, 11(7), 1325–1342. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIABR11-2018-0182
  • Khan, A. N., X. C. & Pitafi, A. H. (2019). Personality Traits as Predictor of M-Payment Systems: A SEM-Neural Networks Approach. Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 31(4), 89-110. doi: 10.4018/JOEUC.2019100105
  • Kollerová, L., Kv?ton, P., Zábrodská, K. & Janošová, P. (2023). Teacher exhaustion: The effects of disruptive student behaviors, victimization by workplace bullying, and social support from colleagues. Social Psychology of Education, 1-18.
  • Lekalakala-Mokgele, E., Ajoke, O. O. & Goosen, S. (2023). Nurses’ Perceptions of the Management of Bullying in Private Hospitals in Eight Provinces in South Africa. Gender and Behavior, 21(1), 21187-21203.
  • Liu, C., Wang, L., Qi, R., Wang, W., Jia, S., Shang, D., Shao, Y., Yu, M., Zhu, X., Yan, S., Chang, Q. & Zhao, Y. (2019). Prevalence and associated factors of depression and anxiety among doctoral students: the mediating effect of mentoring relationships on the association between research self-efficacy and depression/anxiety. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 12, 195–208. https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s195131
  • Mamani-Benito, O., Esteban, R. F. C., Castillo-Blanco, R., Caycho-Rodríguez, T., TitoBetancur, M. & Farfán-Solís, R. (2022). Anxiety and depression as predictors of life satisfaction during pre-professional health internships in COVID-19 times: the mediating role of psychological well-being. Heliyon, 8(10), e11025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11025
  • Mohammed, S., Ali, A., Ahmed, M. & Abdelrehem, E. (2022). Bullying among Nursing Intern Students: Factors and Consequences, 10, 1–7
  • Nauman, S., Malik, S. Z. & Jalil, F. (2019). How workplace bullying jeopardizes employees’ life satisfaction: The roles of job anxiety and insomnia. Frontiers in Psychology, 10(OCT). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02292
  • Malivoire, B. L. & Koerner, N. (2022). Interpersonal dysfunction in individuals high in chronic worry: relations with interpersonal problem-solving. Behavioral and cognitive psychotherapy, 50(2), 142-157.
  • Nielsen, M. B., Harris, A., Pallesen, S. & Einarsen, S. V. (2020). Workplace bullying and sleep–A systematic review and meta-analysis of the research literature. Sleep medicine reviews 51, 101289.
  • Pan, D., Zhang, Z., Lei, M. & Hu, Q. (2022). Bullying experience of student nurses during clinical placement. American Journal of Nursing, 11(3), 93-97.
  • Pitafi, A. H., Khan, A. N., Khan, N. A. & M. R. (2020). Using Enterprise Social Media to Investigate the Effect of Workplace Conflict on Employee Creativity. Telematics and Informatics, 55, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.tele.2020.101451
  • Pyc, L. S., Meltzer, D. P. & Liu, C. (2017). Ineffective leadership and employees’ negative outcomes: The mediating effect of anxiety and depression. International Journal of Stress Management, 24(2), 196.
  • Quiun, L. (2023). An approach to the etiology of effects in targets of workplace bullying. Current Psychology, 1-12.
  • ?AH?N, S. K. & ERDO?AN, Z. (2022). The Effect of COVID-19 Fear and Death Anxiety on the Professional Values of Intern Nursing Students before Clinical Practices. Yüksekö?retim ve Bilim Dergisi, 12(3), 588-597.
  • Selem, K. M., Bo?an, E., Shehata, A. E. & Mohamed, H. A. (2023). A moderated-mediation analysis of abusive supervision, fear of negative evaluation and psychological distress among Egyptian hotel employees. Current Psychology, 42(4), 3395-3410.
  • Sannes, A. C., Christensen, J. O., Nielsen, M. B. & Gjerstad, J. (2021). The association between abusive supervision and anxiety in female employees is stronger in carriers of the CRHR1 TAT haplotype. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, 2, 100021.
  • Saridi, M., Panagiotidou, A., Toska, A., Panagiotidou, M. & Sarafis, P. (2019). Workplace interpersonal conflicts among healthcare professionals: A survey on conflict solution approach at a General Hospital. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 14(2), 468–477. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2019.1661114
  • Shahril, A. S. R. B. M., Lim, L. C., binti Rosli, N. T., binti Hussain, I. A. & Lee, L. W. (2023). Student perceptions of internship experience: Do work stress and workplace bullying decrease personal development? In E3S Web of Conferences, 389, 08025. EDP Sciences.
  • Shdaifat, E. A., Mohammed M., Al Amer, MSN. & Jamama, A. A. (2020). Verbal abuse and psychological disorders among nursing student interns in KSA. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 66-74.
  • Sprigg, C. A., Niven, K., Dawson, J., Farley, S. & Armitage, C. J. (2019). Witnessing workplace bullying and employee well-being: A two-wave field study. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(2), 286.
  • Szlenk-Czyczerska, E. & W?odarczyk, M. (2023). Evaluation of anxiety, depression, aggression, and life satisfaction of nurses working with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-infected patients. Medical Science Pulse, 17(1), 13-23.
  • Yi, Q. F., Yan, J., Zhang, C. J., Yang, G. L., Huang, H. & Yang, Y. (2022). The experience of anxiety among Chinese undergraduate nursing students in the later period of their internships: findings from a qualitative study. BMC Nursing, 21(1), 1-10.
  • Xi, M., He, W., Fehr, R. & Zhao, S. (2022). Feeling anxious and abusing low performers: A multilevel model of high-performance work systems and abusive supervision. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(1), 91-111.
  • Yosep, I., Hikmat, R. & Mardhiyah, A. (2022, August). Types of nursing intervention to reduce the impact of bullying and aggression on nurses in the workplace. In Healthcare, 10(8), 1463. MDPI.
  • Zahlquist, L., Hetland, J., Einarsen, S. V., Bakker, A. B., Hoprekstad, Ø. L., Espevik, R. & Olsen, O. K. (2023). Daily interpersonal conflicts and daily exposure to bullying behaviors at work: The moderating roles of trait anger and trait anxiety. Applied Psychology, 72(3), 893-914.
  • Zubair, A., Yan, L. and Umair, A. (2019). When Employees are Emotionally Exhausted Due to Abusive Supervision. A Conservation-of-Resources Perspective. Environmental Research and Public Health.

Downloads

No downloads have been recorded for this article yet. Figures appear here once readers begin downloading the full text.

How to Cite

Mohamad Besir, M. S., Abdullah, M. Z., Saadun, S. J., Mohd. Tobi, S. N., Mat Hussin, N. Z. M. H., & Huzahim, A. H. (2023). Stop! I am Shaking: Workplace Aggression and Anxiety among Interns in Klang Valley. Information Management and Business Review, 15(3(SI), 387-395. https://doi.org/10.22610/imbr.v15i3(SI).3495

Share this article

Section

Research Paper

Published

2023-09-17

Submissions

Have research to publish? Information Management and Business Review welcomes submissions.

Make a Submission