Intentionality: The Deliberate Factor in Bullying

The Will to Harm as a Differentiating Element

To understand the anatomy of workplace bullying, it is imperative to distinguish between ordinary organizational conflict and harassing behavior.The key lies in intent or malice.

While a conflict may arise from differences of opinion or circumstantial stress with no intent to injure, harassment is characterized by a conscious and deliberate will to cause harm, discomfort or the removal of the victim.

It is not an accident or a "mismanagement of anger"; it is a calculated strategy.

The aggressor does not simply seek to win an argument, but to psychologically annul the other to satisfy a need for control or to hide his or her own professional shortcomings.

This malicious intent is what transforms a bad relationship into a severe psychosocial risk.

Systematic Repetition versus the Isolated Fact

Forensic and occupational psychology agree that systematicity is the vehicle of intentionality.

A single act of verbal aggression, although reprehensible, rarely constitutes harassment (unless it is extremely serious).

Harassment is configured through the "drop by drop": small actions that, in isolation, might seem insignificant (a denied greeting, an unanswered email, a contemptuous glance), but when repeated daily create a devastating pattern of attrition.

Imagine a manager who "forgets" to invite a key employee to strategy meetings once a month; it could be a mistake.

If this happens weekly and only with that person, it is a deliberate isolation tactic designed to undermine his or her self-esteem and performance.

Hidden Motivations Behind Hostile Behavior

What drives someone to invest so much energy in destroying a colleague? The motivations are usually obscure and rarely have to do with the victim's actual performance.Frequently, the driving force is fear and envy.

The bully perceives the victim as a threat to his or her status, be it technical competence, social charisma or ethical integrity.

Unable to compete on equal terms, the aggressor opts for psychological warfare to level the playing field downward.

There are also perverse organizational motivations, such as "management by terror," where extreme pressure is mistakenly believed to increase productivity, when in fact it only generates a culture of silence and mediocrity.

Summary

The difference between conflict and harassment lies in intentionality; harassment deliberately seeks to cause harm or the expulsion of the victim, it is not an accident.

Systematicity is the vehicle of harm; bullying is configured by small repeated actions, such as a daily denied greeting, that create a pattern of devastating attrition.

The motivations are usually fear and envy of the victim's technical competence, using psychological warfare to hide one's professional shortcomings.