A study of more than 500 employees in the fast-moving consumer goods sector has demonstrated how employers might mitigate social undermining in the workplace. Social undermining is a pattern of behaviour in which colleagues or supervisors hinder an individual’s performance or professional relationships. This might include withholding critical information, spreading rumours, or criticising colleagues in a public setting. Unlike overt harassment, such actions are often subtle and cumulative, gradually weakening an employee’s capacity to function effectively within a team.
Social undermining leads to stress, anxiety, and burnout. Such problems are not only detrimental to the employee being targeted but are also linked to reduced productivity and higher staff turnover within an organisation.
The research looks at self-efficacy, an individual’s belief in their own abilities. The team found that self-efficacy acts as a psychological buffer so that those who have greater self-efficacy are less likely to succumb to the effects of social undermining. The work also found that hostility from supervisors had a more pronounced emotional impact than similar actions by peers, but strong self-efficacy could buffer targeted individuals even more effectively in such situations.
Fundamentally, employees with greater confidence in their abilities were more likely to interpret negativity from supervisors as a challenge to be managed rather than as evidence of personal failure. This personal reframing of issues reduces the psychological toll of that kind of interaction for those individuals.
In contrast, negativity from peers affects social standing and workplace relationships, making it more difficult for even those with the greatest level of self-efficacy to cope with such issues. In these cases, the harm is less about task performance and more about belonging and reputation within a group.
The findings suggest that employers might address toxic behaviour in the workplace by strengthening how well their employees can cope given that some degree of interpersonal conflict is inevitable in any organisation and might not always be something that can be stopped directly. By promoting the development of personal resources and self-efficacy, they may have a more practical way to intervene without recourse to disciplinary approaches.
Tosun, B., Güner Kibaroğlu, G. and Basim, H.N. (2026) ‘Self-efficacy as the saviour: defending psychological well-being against the destructive power of social undermining’, Middle East J. Management, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.137–159.
