Serafeimidou-Dimou, 454-473 11th MIBES Conference – Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 454 22-24 June 2016 Workplace bullying with special emphasis in the Greek public sector – a review article Amalia Serafeimidou Regional Center of Plant Protection and Quality Control of Thessaloniki, Ministry of Rural Development and Food, GR 57001, Thermi, Greece amaliaserafimidou@gmail.com Maria Dimou Variety Research Department of Cultivated Plants, Ministry of Rural Development and Food, GR 57400, Sindos, Greece, mmmsj@hotmail.com Abstract During the last decades, bullying at the workplace has gained much attention by many researchers. Increased levels of psychological complaints, depression, irritation, anxiety, despair, mood swings, aggression, or even psychosomatic and musculoskeletal health complaints are some of the effects that have been reported in various studies. Workplace bullying is a growing problem which occurs not only in the private sector, but also in the public sector in recent years and generates negative outcomes for individual, group and organizational effectiveness and productiveness. Research in workplace bullying launched mostly by Scandinavian and Anglo – Saxon countries, but later expanded globally. Not many studies have been conducted in Greece, although the reported cases by individual employees is rising during the last years. This may be due to the fact that the country is going through an economical crisis, and as a result extended structural changes have occurred in the public sector in the context of its rationalization and restructuring. The present review article, is an effort to make a review of the literature regarding the various definitions that have been attributed to the term “workplace bullying”, the causes, the effects, the perpetrator’s and the victim’s profiles of this complex phenomenon, focusing on the public sector. Furthermore, reference is made in ways of reducing the phenomenon and its impacts on employees. Keywords: workplace bullying, public sector, Greece, employees, stress reactions, perpetrator Introduction Workplace bullying is recognized as an important problem worldwide and as a result several research articles and investigations have been published by academics, journalists, trade unions and governments, underlining the significance of bullying the last two decades. Research in workplace bullying launched mostly by Scandinavian and Anglo – Saxon countries, but later expanded globally. Heinz Leynmann conducted a number of studies in Sweden (Leynmann, 1990; 1996; Leynmann and Gustafsson, 1996) and he is considered one of the first researchers who introduced the importance and impacts of harassment at work. This interest quickly grew in other Scandinavian countries and particularly in Norway, where the significance of bullying in workplaces was also pointed out, mainly by Stale Einarsen who has published numerous studies concerning workplace bullying (i.e. Einarsen et al., 1994; Einarsen, 2000; Einarsen et al., 2009). Other