Full transcript of “Mobbing vs Group Harassment”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:00 Hello I m Darren Magee and the topic for today comes from a few questions asking if I would discuss mobbing and group harassment. Now these are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably but they can have nuanced differences in both connotation and application. So today I ll outline the similarities and differences in both, look at the motivations and the personality types behind the behaviour. I'll give some common examples, and lastly, the impact it can have on those who are targeted. So if you find this topic interesting please consider subscribing. So group harassment and mobbing are a form of bullying or psychological harassment that occur in social environments such as workplaces, schools, communities, even online on social media. Both have the intent of harming those they target. They harm them emotionally, psychologically, socially,
0:48 sometimes even financially. They often involve multiple individuals ganging up against a single person or group of people. They might engage in verbal abuse, spreading rumours, threats, exclusion, or other forms of mistreatment. The differences between the two would be mobbing is usually a prolonged and organised sustained pattern of harassment. It can persist for days, weeks, months, sometimes even years. With group harassment however, what we see are often the same tactics, however it tends to be less organised. It can be a one time event or sporadic incidents. It might not always be the same person who's targeted, nor necessarily the same issues they're being targeted for. So some examples of where group
1:34 harassment and mobbing can take place could be, first of all in the workplace. This could be where employees might isolate and ostracise a colleague. They might spread rumours, sabotage their work, just make their professional life difficult. They might gang up during meetings, interrupt them, ridicule them, belittle their ideas or their contributions. In schools or universities students might engage in bullying behaviour against a fellow student. They might threaten them, spread lies, exclude them. Or a group within a community might target an individual or a family causing emotional distress on social isolation, making them feel unwelcome, even threatened in that community. But even within families, multiple family members could consistently engage in verbal
2:19 abuse or manipulation against just one family member, causing them a lot of emotional distress. Another example could be a group of protesters verbally attacking or intimidating individuals with opposing views at a public event. Or they might isolate and target an individual just based on their differences, their beliefs, sometimes even just their questions. On social media a group of individuals might gang up on someone. They harass them by sending abusive messages, tagging them in derogatory posts, spread false information, deliberately misrepresent what they have to say. Or they might target them with hateful comments, outrageous accusations, and in some cases some people might even create fake accounts just to increase the harassment.
3:06 Just like in other environments, the online attacks can be coordinated. Other times what we might see is just what's commonly referred to as a pile-on, and this is when like minded people just jump in to join in with the attacks. They enjoy the emotional rush they get when they see other people being targeted. This is sometimes referred to as the broken window theory. Now that theory suggests that similar to lift the rock and threw it at a window and smashes it, well others think that look like that looks like fun. They pick up rocks and they start to throw them as well. The fact that the window is already smashed is irrelevant. They just getting a kick out of what they're doing. So some common motivations behind group harassment and mobbing could be firstly when people just want to exert power and control over a person they perceive as weaker or different,
3:53 they also encourage others to do so also. This can be away for those individuals to establish dominance and reinforce their social status. Quite commonly, there's once known as group mentality. The presence of a group can sometimes lead to a diffusion of responsibility and a sense of anonymity. Some people might feel more emboldened to engage in harassment if they believe their actions are supported or justified by the group. Also prejudices, stereotypes or biases can also contribute to negative behaviour, and these prejudices can be directed towards individuals they perceive as outsiders or who are different from the group. Those outside the group being treated with hostility, exclusion, sometimes even mobbing. I think in many cases what we see is a
4:40 lack of awareness. Some people might not fully realise the impact of their actions. Some people might lack empathy, or fail to understand the severity of the harm they cause. Then there might be those who know exactly what they're doing, they just don't care, they re having fun. But then there are those who perhaps see themselves as some kind of noble warrior. Their harassment, they believe, is for the greater good. This is sometimes referred to his virtuous victimhood. Because they see themselves as the good guys they believe they had some kind of moral immunity. But like with all groups and communities, whenever dark personality types get involved, they tend to shout the loudest. They climb over and often silence the more reasonable voices in the group. They climb into positions of power and influence. So the harassing behaviour can be fuelled,
5:27 even encouraged, by those influential figures. And if they can't control the moderate voices within their own groups, they ll even try to turn the mob against them. Now even within groups, whenever mobbing and harassment just becomes normalised it can also serve as a way to keep people within that group in line when they see what happens to those who speak up or question, well that can be quite a deterrent. Now there is a concept that Freud described as the narcissism, of small differences. This is rooted in the field of psychology, and the narcissism of small differences suggests that people in groups engage in hostilities with each other over minor differences, as much, if not more so, than with those outside the group. The idea is that the more
6:14 people within the groups have in common, the more likely they are to emphasise and quarrel over whatever differences they have. We often see this when people engage competitively over who's the most noble, who's the most virtuous, who's the bigger victim, who's the most intelligent. But another aspect could be where people share many similarities even minor differences can be perceived as a threat. For instance their target might not necessarily be a part of their group as such, but they may agree with a lot of the things that group does or says. So if you will, they re being seen as being on their side, they re an ally. But if they do or say something the group disagrees with or disapproves of it's like they're now a threat. There are now the enemy. The
6:59 lack of critical thinking, a lack of insight, even a lack of humility, well this can lead to a defensive response. In some cases they engage in mobbing to eliminate or ostracise the person they see as the perceived threat. The image that comes to mind is the angry villagers with torches and pitchforks coming after what they believe is a monster. Now in many cult like movements there is a demand for conformity, so any deviation from the norm, no matter how small could be met with hostility. So their target gets bullied and harassed as that cult like movement seeks to enforce conformity and maintain a sense of unity. And lastly, differences or opposing opinions can create cognitive dissonance in some people. This leads to emotional discomfort. So in an attempt to
7:45 resolve the discomfort some people might engage in mobbing or bullying or harassing as a way to eliminate the source of that perceived discomfort. So there are just some of the motivations behind group harassment and mobbing. So some of the effects on those who are targeted can be first of all anxiety and depression, and this is often due to the constant stress, fear and uncertainty that's associated with being targeted. It can also cause people to behave hypervigilantly and engage in safety seeking behaviours. Maybe they avoid situations or people out of fear of being targeted again. The victims can feel socially isolated as a result of being ostracised or excluded by the group. This isolation can contribute to a sense of loneliness and despair. Continuing harassment
8:33 or the fear of harassment can also undermine a person's self esteem and self worth which can lead to feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. The chronic stress from ongoing harassment can contribute to difficulties with sleeping and diet, which leads to fatigue and exacerbating other health issues. In education and in the workplace it can have a detrimental effect on a person's performance. It can lead to professional setbacks or academic struggles. In some cases, the victim may have to face job loss or have to discontinue their education. Due to the intensity of the harassment and the distress caused by mobbing and group harassment can have enduring effects even after the harassment stops. Victims may continue to experience emotional distress and
9:20 struggle with trust issues. On social media the abuse can spread quite quickly and being attacked by numerous strangers can have people feeling as if they re helpless or outnumbered as they are abused, lied about, misrepresented by people they have never even met or had any interactions with. So to summarises when group harassment is a broader term that encompasses any form of collective mistreatment it can be either a one time event or sporadic incidents. Mobbing, however, specifically implies a more organised and prolonged campaign of harassment. It's a systematic positive mistreatment which often involves a higher degree of organisation and coordination among individuals from a group. The motivations for the behaviour can vary depending
10:06 on the individuals involved. Sometimes it just comes down to a them and us mentality, which is kind of a low resolution way of seeing the world. As I said earlier, when dark personality types become involved in any group, they tend to be quite destructive. Now the dark personality traits include psychopathy which is being callous and having a disregard for others. Narcissism, that includes a sense of entitlement and being highly disagreeable. There's Machiavellianism, which is being duplicitous and manipulative, and lastly there is sadism, which is inflicting pain and misery on others to control them, or just for pleasure and gratification. So when these personality types are involved, even small differences or disagreements can become exaggerated and disproportionately magnified often leading to vitriol and vindictiveness. They could
10:57 be relentless and merciless and they encourage others in that harassment also. Sometimes it is just to punish and to silence the victims. Other times it could be to serve as a warning to others. Lastly, whenever people are targeted there, harassed or provoked or threatened by mobs, regardless of how they may react, their reaction is often twisted and used as evidence of their wrongdoing. So that's a brief outline of mobbing and group harassment. Now as always there are things I probably missed, so please feel free to use the comment box below there are some interesting conversations start from these topics. But if you find this subject to be interesting, please consider subscribing, and until next time, thanks for watching.
