Jurnal Pengurusan 49(2017) 67 – 76 https://doi.org/10.17576/pengurusan-2017-49-06 An Exploratory Study on the Relationship between the Personal Factors of the Perpetrator and Workplace Bullying (Kajian Penerokaan Hubung-kait Antara Faktor-faktor Peribadi Pembuli dan Buli di Tempat Kerja) Nur ‘Izzati Hidzir Mastura Jaafar Alireza Jalali (School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia) Norziani Dahalan (School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia) ABSTRAcT Many countries worldwide have considered workplace bullying as an important national agenda. This issue has been extensively discussed by scholars who have determined that bullying severely affects an organization. However, discussions on workplace bullying in the perspective of the perpetrators still remain inadequate. This study aims to examine the relationship between the personal factors and job insecurity of the perpetrator with workplace bullying. It intends to understand the factors that contribute to workplace bullying among Malaysian workers. This research applied the quantitative method of data collection and used SmartPLS M2 version 2.0 to analyse data. The regression analysis showed that personal factors positively affected workplace bullying. In contrast, no signifcant relationship was found between job insecurity and workplace bullying. Keywords: Workplace bullying; personal factors; job insecurity ABSTRAK Banyak negara di seluruh dunia telah menganggap perbuatan buli di tempat kerja ini sebagai salah satu agenda penting negara. Isu ini telah banyak dibincangkan oleh penyelidik-penyelidik yang membuktikan bahawa perbuatan buli di tempat kerja ini menjejaskan organisasi dengan teruk. Walau bagaimanapun, perbincangan mengenai buli di tempat kerja melalui perspektif pelaku masih tidak mencukupi. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji hubungan antara faktor-faktor peribadi dan ketiadaan jaminan pekerjaan si pelaku dengan buli di tempat kerja. Ia bertujuan untuk memahami faktor- faktor yang menyumbang kepada buli di tempat kerja di kalangan pekerja-pekerja di Malaysia. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah pengumpulan data kuantitatif dan menggunakan SmartPLS M2 versi 2.0 untuk menganalisis data. Analisis regresi menunjukkan faktor-faktor peribadi mempunyai kesan yang positif dengan buli di tempat kerja. Sebaliknya, tiada keputusan signifkan didapati antara ketiadaan jaminan pekerjaan dan buli di tempat kerja. Kata kunci: Buli di tempat kerja; faktor personal; ketiadaan jaminan pekerjaan INTRODUCTION Bullying has been increasingly recognized as a serious problem in the working environment (Francioli et al. 2016). Bullying and harassment are reported to happen regularly in many work organizations. For example, the bullying rate among the workforce in Europe was estimated at 5% to 10% (Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf & Cooper 2011), whereas in the United States it was reported to be close to 10% (Lipscomb et al. 2015). Kassem (2015) claimed that bullying was a universal problem in most organizations with a prevalence rate of 3% to 4%; they added that bullying had inficted serious health damages to its victims and in severe cases, it may cause an adult to commit suicide (LaMontagne & Milner 2016). Scandinavian countries are actively researching on bullying issues (Reknes, Einarsen, Knardahl & Lau 2013; Salin 2015; Van den Brande et al. 2016). In the business feld, evidence in literature has been unable to pinpoint a reliable source of bullying. In the feld of social science, most studies that are pertained to bullying have focused on the victim aspect of workplace bullying (Nielsen & Knardahl 2015; Henle & Gross 2014; Leon Perez et al. 2013). Workplace bullying has serious implications on the psychological safety and well-being of victims as well as on an organization’s function. Hence, investigating factors that contribute to workplace bullying can enhance the understanding of the concept (Bond, Tuckey & Dollard 2010). Most previous studies have focused on work environment variables as antecedents of workplace bullying (Samnani & Singh 2016). However, several studies have provided empirical support for the assumption that certain psychosocial factors at work may foster bullying in the workplace (Francioli et al. 2016; Hauge, Skogstad & Einarsen 2009). Aquino and Thau (2009) asserted that research on personality factors at the individual level remained inconclusive. An intensive literature review Artkl 6 (49) (Jun 2017).indd 67 27/09/2017 11:38:32