Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2008, 49, 59–68 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00602.x © 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2008 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0036-5564. Blackwell Publishing Ltd Personality and Social Sciences The occurrences and correlates of bullying and harassment in the restaurant sector GRO ELLEN MATHISEN, 1 STÅLE EINARSEN 2 and REIDAR MYKLETUN 1 1 University of Stavanger, Norway 2 University of Bergen, Norway Mathisen, G. E., Einarsen, S. & Mykletun, R. (2008). The occurrences and correlates of bullying and harassment in the restaurant sector. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 59–68. The aim of this study was to explore the occurrence of bullying in the restaurant sector and its potential consequences. The sample consisted of 207 superiors and employees in 70 restaurants. The findings indicated that bullying prevails in the restaurant industry, with apprentices as a risk group. Bullying was negatively related to job satisfaction, commitment, employees’ perceptions of creative behavior, and external evalu- ations of restaurant creativity level, and positively related to burnout and intention to leave the job. Some support was found for a mediation hypothesis, where bullying was the predictor, job satisfaction, commitment and burnout were mediators, and intention to leave was dependent variable. One implication of this study is that there is a need to challenge the attitude, common in this sector, that aggression and bullying is a natural and even necessary part of the work environment. Key words: Harassment, bullying, restaurant, intention to leave, creativity, job satisfaction, burnout, commitment. Gro Ellen Mathisen, University of Stavanger, Norwegian School of Hotel Management, 4036 Stavanger, Norway. E-mail: gro.e.mathisen@uis.no INTRODUCTION Restaurants have been portrayed as aggressive and hectic workplaces where psychological and physical abuse prevail (Johns & Menzel, 1999). A basic assumption that employees must accept mistreatment as part of the job also seems to exist in the sector. Thus, restaurant cultures appear to accept, and even expect, bullying and harassment as a natu- ral part of the work environment. The recognized UK chef Gordon Ramsay even claimed that “a kitchen has to be an assertive, boisterous, aggressive environment, or nothing happens” (Hollweg, 2001). Furthermore, in an interview study with chefs in UK upscale restaurants, Johns and Menzel (1999) found that violence myths were powerful and persistent in kitchen cultures, a dominant myth being that “violence is a characteristic of the work and the workplace, not of the individuals involved” (p. 106), removing any indi- vidual responsibility for these conditions among chefs and managers. Recently, however, some have begun to question such a “truth”, discussing possible negative aspects of these tough working conditions in restaurants (Hoel & Einarsen, 2003; Pratten, 2003; Tidemann & Mykletun, 2005). Hence, the aim of the present study is to investigate the existence of bullying and harassment in restaurants and potential con- sequences associated with such treatment. Restaurants are of particular theoretical interest, as this specific sector differs from other sectors in that bullying and other negative behav- iors seem to be embedded in the work culture of these organizations (Johns & Menzel, 1999). An interesting question in this regard is whether the effects of bullying in restaurants are as harmful as has been documented in other sectors, or whether bullying may actually be beneficial in this milieu, as is often claimed by the industry itself. Bullying and harassment at work Brodsky (1976) described harassment as repeated and persistent attempts by a person to torment, wear down, frustrate, or get a reaction from another person, and as treatment that persistently provokes, pressures, frightens, intimidates or otherwise causes discomfort to another per- son at work. Hence, the core dimension in bullying is about exposure to repeated and enduring negative acts from coworkers, superiors or subordinates (Einarsen, 2000). Often, a real or a perceived power imbalance between the parties is involved, making it difficult for the target to defend and guard him or herself in the actual situation. Typically, a victim is constantly teased, badgered and insulted and is unable to effectively retaliate. Although often considered to occur in a single, overt attack, bullying has been found to be a gradually evolving situation, where the target is treated in increasingly harsh ways, which leads to stigmatization of the victim as a “deserving” target (Leyman, 1996). Bullying may take many forms, from open verbal or physical attacks, to rather indirect and subtle acts of aggression, such as exclud- ing or isolating the person from his or her peer group, or talking behind his or her back. The common denominator is that these aggressive behaviors or activities are used with the aim, or at least the effect, of persistently humiliating, intimidating, or frightening the target. In the context of the