Social support as buffer for workplace negative acts of professional public sector employees in Vietnam

Abstract

Much has been known about negative outcomes of workplace bullying in public sectors in low power distance contexts like the UK, USA, and Australia. Little is known about workplace bullying in non-Western contexts characterized by high power distance, bureaucracy, and collectivism. This study advances Conservation of Resource (COR) theory with empirical evidence that the acquisition of social support buffered the indirect impact of bullying on work engagement in a sample of 207 Vietnamese public sector professionals. This research suggests the provision of contextual resources is critically important to enhance employee positive experience of work in the face of workplace bullying.