Why do people enjoy bringing others down at their weakest?

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The whole example is hypothetical though. It's more likely the bully gets tossed for causing problems in the workplace. Even if he's skilled at evading blame, good HR managers are on the lookout for these people because they cost companies money.

It is important to you, as a manager or executive, to be able to recognize these toxic bosses. They can significantly decrease production and increase cost. They can make a large company an unpleasant place to work, and they can kill a small company.

... Look into overhead costs. One of the biggest costs of a toxic boss is in personnel issues. Often these costs are collected into overhead accounts rather than charged to operating units. Even if your company's annual turnover rate is within norms for its industry, look into the numbers.

Does one group have more people quitting (or retiring) than the others? Have there been instances where several individuals from the same unit have left the company in a short period of time? Does one department have higher overtime costs than the others. Have the employees in a particular section been using up all their vacation and more of their sick days than the average?


http://management.about.com/cs/generalm ... 082697.htm

Naturally it doesn't need to be the boss to cause all the costs, they'll be the same if it's an employee ... but the boss will likely have dealt with him so management doesn't come down on him for problems. Or if the boss hasn't then from the manager's perspective it's no difference, he should have so he is the problem and he will be removed and a new boss brought in, who will rectify whatever the problem was.

Being a bully at work these days is an excellent way to earn a welfare cheque.

Last edited by edgewaters on 29 May 2012, 9:25 am, edited 2 times in total.

Well I do not see how it is a natural part of human behavior or I guess I am not human, because I don't have any urges to bully anyone...since I know how painful it can be to suffer that sort of treatment. Maybe that's what they need some of their own treatment handed back to them. Also as much as I tried to deal with it, it still did plenty of damage......so yeah I say it is their behavior that should be changed not mine as I am not the one causing unnecessary harm to others for my own entertainment.

It's not hypothetical - it happens a lot. I lost my own job to another person who was more socially favoured by management and colleagues, some of whom actively bullied me.
I can understand that you want to believe the world is a particular way but to me the evolutionary explanations for peoples' aggressive/bullying behavour makes a lot of sense
and helps me deal with it better as it means there is a rational explanation for it.

It takes a lot of time, effort and mental stress to take a collegue to an employment tribunual - a lot of people don't bother as they know it would put too much stress on them, possibly be too costly and drag things on for too long. They prefer to just move on.

And as for HR in the average UK organisation - they are just there to back up management usually. From my own experience they have been.

There's 'the way the world should be' and 'how it actually is' - some people seem fixated on pushing the 'how it should be' model as how it actually is. I pefer reality.

Random killing is not a part of evolution. Look at other animal species. When there is violence, it is for a reason. For instance, a lion. They fight other lions for territories. The males fight other males for access to prides. The females and males hunt for food. The males use violence to protect the females. Once the lions live together within a pride with established males, they do not turn on each other and hurt each other. So, violence for the sake of violence is not beneficial for the species to thrive. It's destructive and can mean the demise of a species.
So, there is really no point to bullying within the human species. It does nothing to promote survival. In fact, it makes the people who do it look insipid. Laughable. They look like wannabe wrestlers. Is it possible to watch WWF without laughing at how ridiculous those yelling fools look?

Well obviously it happens, or they wouldn't be looking to save costs by getting rid of these people - people get murdered too but it doesn't mean everyone is a killer.

But it costs companies money. Companies are ruthless when it comes to money. They have to be. They still have problems and experience losses, of course, but they are always looking to make more money. Bullying costs money - in fact, that's how they pinpoint it, by looking into various costs.

Competing interests here. Employees who bully vs corporate profits. Who do you think usually wins?



That's the thing - the world is NOT a particular way. Anything but. If it was, there wouldn't be problems. If bullying was normal, it wouldn't be a problem - it would be normal. If there was no such thing as bullying, it wouldn't exist and we wouldn't be talking about it. This is one of those things that just isn't either-or.

If explained in terms of giving your genes the advantage violence and murder is perfectly logical - by killing others you have knocked their genes right out of the game!

People don't like to think in these terms though - it's too abstract and removed from reality for them and too harsh.

Bullying is a normal variation of human behaviour in my opinion. If you choose to see it as an aberration that's your choice but it's far too prevalent from my observations. Also, if it wasn't advantageous, the genes of bullies would have died out long ago as evolution tends to eliminate behaviour that isn't evolutionarily advantageous (ie so it doesn't get passed on to the next generation) So if bullying is so detrimental and useless, why is it still with us - you'd think no one would want to mate with the bullies and their genes would have reached a dead end long ago if this behaviour was so abhorrent to the average mature person.

This is a good article about the origins of bullying:-
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/gue ... -bullying/

Last edited by nessa238 on 29 May 2012, 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

But there's a stop gap in favor of genetic diversity since a narrow gene pool leaves a species susceptible. This means random killing within a species is counter productive to evolution.

I have to love the assumption that if you don't like the way of things you automatically refuse to acknowledge that it is that way, that sort of ignorance would bother me to but opposing something does not really indicate refusing to acknowledge it takes place....what is wrong with having an issue towards psychopathic behavior like bullying.? Sure it exists probably will continue to exist, but that is no reason to support it or be ok with it in my opinion. I mean in my experience even at an early age this sort of behavior is encouraged. What if at a younger age more emphasis was putting on not hurting and ostracizing the kid who 'doesn't fit in.' to weed them out or whatever it is that the result is supposed to be....maybe that would have a better result than trying to kick those who are already down.

The random killings aren't sufficiently high to make the gene pool too narrow and also what is the definition of a random killing? Presumanly in the head of the person doign the killing there was a reason for it, if only to see what it was like to kill someone.

The evidence is all out there anyway - people get killed all the time, whether in war or via being murdered in the community and they get beaten up even more regularly. So make of it what you will. Bullying and violence seems pretty typical behaviour for humans to me but most people liek toexplain it away by saying 'Oh that person was evil/drunk/on drugs/had issues' - you name it - we don't like admitting how we are.

I don't know if murder was such a disadvantage, why are there still murderers...clearly murderers have superior genes and their behavior is justified on a genetic basis or whatever.

Where did I ever say bullying was ok? You make assumptins yourself - read my posts properly.

Be against bullying by all means - most people are, all I'm doing is stating that it's inherent behaviour for many. You seem to regularly disagree with anything I say on here - you aren't bullying me are you?

I stated this earlier on re bullying not dying out.

I stated this earlier on re bullying not dying out.

I stated this earlier on re bullying not dying out.

I stated this earlier on re bullying not dying out.