Title: Impact of workplace bullying on employee well-being and job burnout in hospitality sector: empirical evidence

Authors: Utpala Das; Kulbir Kaur Bhatti; Rashmi Singel; Raj Kumar Singh

Addresses: School of Leadership and Management, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana, 121004, India ' School of Leadership and Management, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana, 121004, India ' School of Leadership and Management, Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad, Haryana, 121004, India ' School of Management, Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, 248002, India

Abstract: This research examines the impact of workplace bullying (WPB) on the well-being of employees and job burnout in the Indian hospitality sector. A cross-sectional research design was employed, in which data were gathered through a self-administered survey from 516 employees selected via purposive sampling. Seven important variables for WPB, psychological stress, job efficiency, and burnout, were measured using 33 scale items. Partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test and validate the proposed model. The results indicate that WPB is strongly related to increased perceived work injustice, individual bullying experiences, and psychological health and well-being (PHWE), which further increases psychological stress. Greater psychological stress decreases job efficiency and increases burnout. Job efficiency also negatively correlates with job burnout, suggesting that increased efficiency can help mitigate burnout. The research also establishes that psychological stress fully mediates the effect of WPB on job efficiency and burnout.

Keywords: workplace bullying; WPB; perceived work injustice; psychological stress; job efficiency; job burnout.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2025.148010

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2025 Vol.17 No.3, pp.311 - 331

Received: 18 Mar 2025
Accepted: 19 Jun 2025
Published online: 13 Aug 2025 *

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