Doświadczanie mobbingu przez najstarszą grupę pracowników - charakterystyka zjawiska

The paper presents a specific picture of older employees’ experience of mobbing in the workplace. It is showed in a context of a wider working population in Poland and referred to other international find- ings. The results presented in the paper base on data from a group of employees aged over 45 (N=127), which was withdrawn from a bigger sample of Polish employees working in various organizations in Lower Silesia (total N=1352; years 2008 -2014). The research implemented an SDM Questionnaire – a Polish verified and standardized psychometric tool for diagnosing mobbing, which has very good psychometric parameters. The research findings indicate that about 20% of older employees of both sexes are exposed to mobbing behaviours - especially when they hold a medium managerial position or are specialists. The 45+ aged employees are usually harassed by their younger colleagues, collectively or individually, usually when the latter occupy a more favorable position in the organization. A favorite mobbers’ tactic involves trivializing the value of older employees, ridicule and criticism. All these leads to severe psychological stress and an emergence of harmful psycho-somatic symptoms.