Is Being A Bully in School A Prerequisite to Being A (Manager) Bully in The Workplace?

Imagine a schoolboy that is relentless verbally and physically abused by a bully. He will cope by convincing himself that in the future, the bully will become a loser and go to jail for assault, and the schoolboy will study hard and become a CEO of a company with a 6 figure salary. Unfortunately, the reality is often the opposite. The schoolboy will fall into depression and never recover, and the bully will climb the corporate ladder due to his aggressive and assertive personality. In fact, being a sociopath is pretty much a requirement for becoming a CEO.

10 Professions That Attract the Most Sociopaths
https://www.mic.com/articles/44423/10-professions-that-attra…

Nobody likes bullies. But apparently, people like bullies enough for bullies to be promoted to managers in the workplace. Despite giving lip service to the anti-bullying cause and giving platitudes to victims of bullying, society values bullies at best, and values the sociopathic nature of bullies at worst. This exact phenomena can be seen in the lifestyles of (male) gangsters and non-gangsters where aggressive and assertive Jules the Gangster has more success with the opposite sex than boring but stable Andrew the Accountant (who in all likelihood, is probably a virgin). The parallel is clear. The aggressive and assertive bully in the workplace is rewarded with a higher income and a higher position. The aggressive and assertive bully in the gang is rewarded with more sex. And of course, like him or not, you've got Donald Trump and the position of the Leader of the USA.

Sexual access to females as a motivation for joining gangs: An evolutionary approach
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0022449950955179…

My main assertion for my thesis is as follows: Society as a whole, pays lip service to the anti-bully and anti-bullying cause but in reality, society rewards bullies. Thus, bullying will never be eradicated.

Do you agree with that statement? Why or why not?

Comments

  • +4

    Disagree.

    Society as a whole, pays lip service to the anti-bully and anti-bullying cause but in reality, society rewards bullies.

    Society doesn't pay lip service, individuals do.

    Society behaves organically and what comes most naturally. It doesn't care if you're a bully. It rewards people who are capable of providing a service they require.

    • -1

      The current state of affairs is worse than I thought if that is true (that society doesn't even pretend to care about bullying).

      • +1

        What state of affairs?

        There isn't an imaginary meeting of society members to discuss what we're going to reward, punish and/or protect.

        The reality is that some people are capable and some aren't. This is irrespective of being a bully or not, however, there is a "societal justice" that sides against the more successful party whenever there's a conflict.

        It is difficult to define what a bully is and that definition is often flexible to the cause. The only way we can get "society" to reject bullies and protect victims is by social engineering. If history is anything to go by, these endeavours usually involve mass genocide, something arguably worse than bullying.

        • -4

          There isn't an imaginary meeting of society members to discuss what we're going to reward, punish and/or protect.

          No, there's a real meeting of society members that have meetings in a thing called a think tank, that then advises Governments and various enterprises on how to steer society using propaganda.

          I'm surprised you're unaware of this given you seem very idealogically driven in your comments. Maybe your being controlled?

          • +1

            @Diji1: Ah. I forgot the think tank of government puppeteers that manufacture propaganda for the Sheeples.

          • @Diji1:

            you seem very idealogically driven in your comments

            have you had a look in the mirror lately??

  • +2

    Bullying is a part of human evolution and nature, doesn't have to be a prerequisite or result of anything.

    If you look at many cases, bullies come from all walks of life, and usually get what they want, when they want because society shirks away from confrontation, and because the alpha has always shit on others to climb to the top.

    More bullies will be successful in society than victims, it's just humanity at it's finest.

  • Ps. Your premise that society rewards bullies and your example of Jules the gangster is conflicting.

    On one hand, you hypothesize that society wants to enable bullies but in your example, it is demonstrable that society patently disapproves of Jules hence why we as society are in agreement with laws that prosecute Jules.

    We disagree with the bully of your description so much so we have made laws against their actions.

  • +3

    Honestly it's not that complicated. It's not that "bullying" is somehow celebrated or rewarded, it's that the common components of bullying are also things which get results: aggressiveness, assertiveness, unreasonableness.

    Not all bullies will be successful. But an intelligent or capable bully may well get better results than an equally intelligent or capable nice guy.

    • +1

      I pretty much agree with this

      Too much faith put in those articles that come out 2-3 times a year in the “news” about sociopaths being successful in businesses, and leading to views all senior leaders and execs are essentially serial killers

    • But an intelligent or capable bully may well get better results than an equally intelligent or capable nice guy.

      This is open to interpretation, depending on one's definition of better results - whether focusing on short-term or long-term.

      If the person is really intelligent, s/he would have figured out that bullying may get you quick short-term results, but is a flawed strategy to play by in the long run. And being nice does not mean being a door-mat and walk-over, just a fair-minded person who:

      • treats others as one would like to be treated
      • still have empathy, compassion, and kindness.
      • achieves results and promotion using the good old hard-work, diligence route, not using short-cuts like claiming others’ credit, back-stabbing and stepping over others.
      • wins the respect of co-workers and managers.

      If such a person is a manager,

      • the team is usually a cohesive and productive one because over time, this manager hires people of the same ilk.
      • team members are happy to work there.
      • the manager gains the loyalty of team members.
      • Ironically, in such a situation, it is hard to dethrone the manager from below.
      • It is, of course, possible to do so from the top – but when that happens, it means the company or board has hired people with incompatible values (short-term focus, wanted to be pandered to, etc) or wants a new direction this manager does not agree with. If so, this is a good time to move anyway.

      When such a manager moves to another company, quite often a number of the team members also wish to follow the manager to the new company. This is advantageous for the manager.

      This, IMO qualifies as better results than what the bully manager can get. Those bullied will get back when the opportunity arises. Good workers leave, morale plummets and the team becomes ineffective, and eventually, results go down. The company as a whole suffers.

      I remember seeing a doco of something akin in the primate world (think it was gorilla but could be another species). The alpha male of the group was a big bully. When another supplanted him, they chased him out of the group and in no time he was found dead (no protection).

      But then, the new alpha male was a gentler sort. He was physically strong but did not bully the individuals in the group. Later on, he grew old, and another alpha male took over the group. Ironically, they did not chase him out. And he lived among them in peaceful retirement, with little ones clamouring and playing with him.

      Morale of the story: In the long-run, bullying does not pay.

      • Morale Moral of the story: …

      • This is open to interpretation, depending on one's definition of better results - whether focusing on short-term or long-term.

        After my years on this planet, I've noticed that literally only the planet cares about the long term. People don't. Companies don't. Governments don't. Economies don't. What does? Rainforests and coral… apparently.

  • -2

    Bullies, and other undesirable people like serial killers have skills that can be transfered to the workplace, as much as we don't like to believe. Manipulation, reading people, leadership and being able to control and sweet talk people is not easy, but can get you $$$. You can't climb that high if you care too much about other people.

    • Did you get downvoted by the ghost of a victim of a serial killer?

      serial killers have skills that can be transfered to the workplace

      Very good point. Not just the workplace, but love life as well.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybristophilia

      Hybristophilia is a paraphilia in which sexual arousal, facilitation, and attainment of orgasm are responsive to and contingent upon being with a partner known to have committed an outrage, cheating, lying, known infidelities, or crime—such as rape, murder, or armed robbery.

      This seems to be a mostly female phenomenon (females desiring serial killers). To a lesser extreme, you've also of course got the book/movie "Fifty Shades of Grey" and the female desire to be dominated by a handsome white billionaire. I say white because I doubt the movie would be as popular among the public if the antagonist was the Indian CEO of Google.

  • -1

    Alpha males are by and large (profanity) and the best way to deal with them is to confront them head on. They think more of their little guys, and themselves, than any one else so if you can attack those vulnerabilities you can bleed them. Society holds up the alpha male as some sort of paragon but they tend to be pretty self destructive, as well as destructive to anyone around them.

    Whenever I think of alpha males I think of Antechinus.
    “The males experience mass mortality after mating, with male survival only observed in very rare cases”.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antechinus

    Frankly, in the end, it comes down to what you treasure most in life. If being an a-hole is it then become an alpha male, if it isn’t then don’t. I fully expect to be majorly flamed for my comments.

    • +4

      I have known a fair few females to be bullies…….

      • +1

        Apparently, despite living in a patriarchy (where men hold power over all others), even women prefer to work for men.

        Queen bee syndrome was first defined by G.L. Staines, T.E. Jayaratne, and C. Tavris in 1973.[1] It describes a woman in a position of authority who views or treats subordinates more critically if they are female.

        This phenomenon has been documented by several studies.[2][3] In another study, scientists from the University of Toronto speculated that the queen bee syndrome may be the reason that women find it more stressful to work for female managers; no difference was found in stress levels for male workers.[4]

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_bee_syndrome

  • +2

    While it's a nice fantasy that bullies fail, and nerds inherit the Earth, it's not so clear cut. The worst brats I grew up with came from privileged families, so even if they didn't do quite so well in the HSC, they'll wind up with the same degree through side doors, and eventually become partners at daddy's firm due to a combination of donations, networking, and nepotism.

  • "rewarded with more sex"

    Hahaha, anyone pathetic enough to care much about something so insignificant, and utterly worthless outside of a relationship, can keep it for all I care.

    "The schoolboy will fall into depression and never recover"

    Doubt it, highschool is a bubble. Also, many victims of bullying later become bullies themselves out of spite when given power.

    Fact is, people like that, sociopaths, will never have a life with real meaning. And so have nothing I would want, wasted money and whatever bimbo it attracts? An empty facade for an empty person. I don't see why I would want any semblance of that.

    Also, "more success with the opposite sex", did you just assume their sexuality? Never heard of self-hating closet cases? I bet there's a big cross-section between the two…

    • Also, many victims of bullying later become bullies themselves out of spite when given power.

      Good point. Victims of bullying either go all out (school sh00tings etc) or they become journalists and bully others (eg. straight white men) with words, or become reddit moderators and use their "power" to silence others.

      Also, "more success with the opposite sex", did you just assume their sexuality? Never heard of self-hating closet cases? I bet there's a big cross-section between the two…

      Despite the media claiming otherwise, gays/lesos are such a small fraction of the population that I didn't think this would be worth mentioning.

  • +1

    Bullying will not be eradicated. But it can decrease over time if society will not stand for it. Social norms are fluid. Enough social awareness of the issue, and perhaps it can become really unacceptable.

    Think of the worst form of bullying – slavery. Used to be acceptable in earlier centuries, nowadays generally unacceptable. Modern slavery still happens, and so the Modern Slavery Act 2018 came into being, to hopefully reduce this too.

    Same with domestic violence, which used to happen a lot more often and tolerated quietly; nowadays, people are more aware, it is becoming less acceptable, and there is help for victims and perpetrators.

    With workplace bullying, there are bodies you can turn to like Fairwork and so on. Corporates also care about their image which translates to their bottom lines. So systemic, large-scale bullying in companies is also happening less often.

    As researchers learn and understand more about why bullying develops in children, maybe this too can be addressed earlier on, and not carry forward to later life.

    Social awareness is the weapon to deal a blow to bullying. It takes time, but it will happen gradually.

    True, up to this point, certain professions tend to nurture and reward sociopathic traits, and therefore attract more than its fair share of sociopaths. But sociopaths are also selfish, more so than normal people. They will do what rewards them. If bullying is no longer rewarding, they will stop. Ultimately self-interest takes priority.

    If people will call out more, and raise more awareness about bullying, then it will decrease faster in society.

    BTW, recent article on this: Why Children Become Bullies At School.

  • You need to at least be able to stand up to the bullies under you that are gunning for your job. And you also need to be devious enough to recognise what they are trying to do to you. Being a sociopath doesn't necessarily make you a bully. But it helps.

    Every business is different though. If you worked under Walt Disney then he's the only bully that he'll tolerate. Other businesses won't care how managers treat non essential employees.

    • +1

      Being a sociopath doesn't necessarily make you a bully. But it helps.

      Exactly, bullying is used by a sociopath only if it aligns with, or advances the sociopath’s self-interest.
      Also, not all bullies are sociopaths; most are those who feel inadequate within themselves and want to yield some power.

  • +1

    Do you agree with that statement? Why or why not?

    No, because being assertive and aggressive are not bullying tactics. Feeling bullied from assertion and aggressiveness is the result of the recipients brittle spirit. As a manager you need certain things done a certain way at a certain time, if you are direct about that and firm, when explaining or when it is not being done then you are just managing the individual not bullying them.

    Likewise your thesis is not quantifiable. While you can quote a number of articles you also have to do your quantified research and surveys.

    The topic is in the realm of generalisations and guess work rather than actual experience and facts. I would liken this topic to something like the below. Because you may have seen 1 manager be a bully now the prerequisite is being a bully to he a manager.

    "Do all Asians drive bad"

    "Why do indians love driving taxis"

    "Are white people priviledged"

    "Do LGBTQ have less access to opportunity"

    Simply not true, and extremely narrow minded.

  • A lot of these bullies treat their wives the same and end up getting divorced, paying a large portion of their income as child support.

    • +1

      Citation needed. The biggest bullies from high school I know that are married; have the same mindset. Think of that couple that yells at you when one of them bumps into you.

    • A lot of these bullies treat their wives the same and end up getting divorced, paying a large portion of their income as child support.

      Yeah, I would like a citation on that too.

      From my research, it's the aggressive and violent man bully that get wild sex from their girlfriend and their girlfriend tolerates the black eye in their attempt to hold down and fix this man.

      While it's the safe, boring and risk-averse accountants and company men that end up paying for child support. The child that actually came from the man bully.

      Reddit is full of stories of bully victims who look up the facebook profiles of their bullies, and the bullies are happily married while the bully victim is lonely and suicidal (Reddit is filled with mentally ill people).

      Having said that, the divorce rate these days is astronomically high so I am open to the possibility that both the bullies and non-bullies pay for child support.

  • +1

    The reality is that sociopaths/psychopaths rise to the top levels in both the corporate and political realms. This has been well documented.

    • +1

      Bear in mind that sociopath/psychopaths are defined by their exclusion from being normal.

      It's like saying exceptional people become exceptional.

    • +1

      Don't non-sociopaths also rise to top levels in both the corporate and political realms? Doesn't this show that sociopathy is not a pre-requiste for management?

      If an intelligent, charismatic, highly motivated and extremely hard working psychopath rises to the top of his/her profession, what does this tell us about the nature of psychopaths?

      What are the well documented career paths for lazy, stupid, boring psychopaths?

      • They end up as instagram 'influencers'. :)

      • Don't non-sociopaths also rise to top levels in both the corporate and political realms? Doesn't this show that sociopathy is not a pre-requisite for management?

        Yeah, I don’t think sociopathy is a prerequisite whatsoever.

        Some companies have come into the limelight due to their very unethical behaviour. Think the Royal Banking Commission findings. The hypothesis is that perhaps sociopathic traits of CEO/management help to foster environments where these kinds of unethical behaviour can thrive. Including practices that have no regard for other stakeholders, wider community, environment and so on.

        But more likely is that CEOs/managements consisting of normal people are also capable of the unethical behaviours. Greed is a powerful motivator.

        But this kind of behaviour is increasingly being challenged by the community at large and shareholders/stakeholders. Shareholders are becoming aware that this kind of short-termism damages the brand and is detrimental to profitability in the long-run. There is also a lot of shareholder backlash now to CEO remuneration.

        We start seeing ethical companies and funds popping up, responsible banks emerging and so on. Customers are also voting with their feet.
        Once again, increasing awareness by society is the best way to make sure such behaviour is not rewarded.

        It is worth noting that this wide gap between CEO-to-worker compensation is only a phenomenon in the last 50 years or so. In 1965, the US CEO earned something like 18 times normal workers, which is not as outrageous as now, over 200 times. Probably similar here. (CEO-worker pay ratio over time).

  • I've never had a bully for a manager. They've all been quite fond of me.So can't comment. All the bullies at my school have either become lawyers or police officers. Read what you like in that.

    In the workplace, I've been bullied by a colleague and by subordinates.The former was jealous of me and wanted me to fail and the latter didn't like having to report to someone half their age and wanted me to fail. I always start out feeling sorry for them and the way they feel threatened by me. I'll go out of my way to be extra nice and compliment them on their work or shout them coffees or drinks, which for some reason infuriates them to no end.

    But my compassion does have its limit and once I've breached it , and depending on how much free time I have on my hand and what other options are out there, I either ask to be transferred to a different location, or I give my bullies just enough rope to hang themselves. I make sure that there's lots of witnesses around when that happens so that I can't be blamed for it.The second option is by far the most satisfying one and I tend to go for that one as a rule, unless of course, I get offered to move to our lab in France on an 18-months expat visa, then I'll take that, thanks! :)

  • +4

    NO, too simplistic.

    Most school bullies I found are too stupid to succeed. If anything the ones I knew ended up in prison, then worked minimum wage jobs. I've met true (non violent) successful Sociopaths, know whats interesting, they are really nice (when it suits them). Simplistic bullying is beneath them.

    Workplace bullies are simply insecure idiots, micromanages.

  • I'd strongly recommend you follow Jordan Peterson on YouTube. He goes a lot into topics like this around the psychological makeup of successful people.

    It's an interesting premise. It has a few holes but you're definitely on the right track. The world doesn't care for nice guys. This is why men earn more money than women - men are simply more willing to do the dirty work.

    Violence and aggressiveness are not unfavourable characteristics. They're only bad if they're misused or uncontrolled. In actuality, violence is what buys us our freedom. Violent men defeated the Nazis. Violent governments keep North Korean misilles aimed away from us. The world needs people who are willing and able to be violent when required. This isn't an easy thing to do so those who do it are in high demand and get rewarded favourably.

    • +1

      I'd strongly recommend you follow Jordan Peterson on YouTube. He goes a lot into topics like this around the psychological makeup of successful people.

      Got a specific lecture you can link? Apparently he is a white supremacist nazi bigot homophobe transphobe fascist misogynist racist, but I'm willing to hear what he has to say and judge for myself.

      This is why men earn more money than women - men are simply more willing to do the dirty work.

      My understanding is that the main reason men earn more money than women is because men work in fields that has a higher income potential than women (mainly STEM related like engineering and computer science etc). Last time I did computers at university, it was basically a sausage fest and I doubt there is a conspiracy to keep women out of computers, quite the opposite, there's affirmative action for women. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what you do, women aren't interested in computers the same way (most) men aren't interested in fashion.

      Violence

      Might makes right?

      • -2

        Thanks for the reply. I think you’ve encapsulated it very well. Being willing to do the “dirty work” is not to be admired. Organisations spend a lot of effort covering up the results of this “dirty work” but it is beginning to bite them in the end. The Banking Royal Commission blew the lid off what happens when you let people get on with the “dirty work” and, fortunately, we are beginning to see more and more people willing to step forward as whistle blowers on dodgy deals and ripping other people off. Certain people “admire” the people doing the “dirty work” right up to the point where they get done over, then they complain society isn’t protecting them.

        I made a lucrative career in IT, but there were quite a few meetings where I was the only female. My suggestion, to any female out there, is get into a male dominated field as that is where the money is. Only a chump becomes a nurse, teacher, etc. You are going to be played. “Nurturing” is code word for we will underpay you. If you have kids the system will screw you.

        Violence is a last resort option and needs to be a response to violence. As a society we are too willing to shrug and find a reason to blame the victim or excuse the perpetrator. If you are violent, or threaten violence, you should be managed. It is too late once you have injured or killed someone. How many chances do you need?

        Society is screwed. The “gangs” are just the pointy end of people doing the “dirty work”. They see what they want and go get it. It is not that much different to ripping off your employees, customers or the tax payers; just a tad more direct. The mentality is the same. The gang members want what other people have and aren’t scrupulous how they get it. There would be very few high end managers that aren’t “playing” the system. There would, also, be very few companies willing to prosecute them.

        • Only a chump becomes a nurse, teacher, etc.

          Are you asserting that (female) teachers are chumps? I don't think your feminist friends would appreciate that comment.

          The percentage of male primary school teachers in Australia has decreased in recent decades, from 30.24% in 1983 to 18.26% in 2016.
          http://www.utas.edu.au/news/2017/10/20/441-the-decline-in-ma…

          How do we get more male chumps back into the teaching role?

      • Got a specific lecture you can link? Apparently he is a white supremacist nazi bigot homophobe transphobe fascist misogynist racist, but I'm willing to hear what he has to say and judge for myself.

        If you believe the trash that comes from progressive thinktanks I doubt you'll get much out of his content (or life in general, but I digress). He's an exceptionally good academic and has helped countless men shake off the pressure of being blamed for all of the world's problems. Unfortunately I can't recall any specific lecture since I've watched hundreds of his, but I feel like a constant theme in all of his content is about dominance hierarchies, social structures, and the psychological makeup of the world's most successful people. Reading your opening post reminded me heavily of his work hence I think you'd really enjoy it - he cites plenty of sources and further reading too which you could also expand on.

        My understanding is that the main reason men earn more money than women is because men work in fields that has a higher income potential than women (mainly STEM related like engineering and computer science etc)

        Yes, hence the analogy "dirty work". Men make up the overwhelming majority of the most dangerous, straining, difficult, and deadly job markets. It just so happens that these markets pay the best since there are less people willing to do them. Men also work longer hours (on average) than women - studies support this. The reason men do this is generally because of their biological makeup. Men are born to be more aggressive, competitive, and dominant. That works out well for their careers, but unfortunately these are the same traits that cause men to be violent and abusive, as well as why men dominate the suicide, incarceration, and homeliness statistics.

        Hence the conundrum - you can train men to be less dominant and competitive (in other words, be more like women), and while that may reduce the number of "bullies" or criminals among the male populace, it would also significantly reduce the number of people willing to fight society's wars, put their life on the line to fix electrical infrastructure, work long hours at the lab conjuring new medicine, chase down criminals in the police force, and dive face-first into poo to clean out our septic tanks. It's a trade-off which society is not willing to make.

        • +1

          Yes, hence the analogy "dirty work".

          I think try2bhelpful may have interpreted your "dirty work" comment in a different way thinking of "dirty work" as in immoral and objectionable actions for personal gain rather than the dirty work of collecting rubbish and maintaining the sewerage system while knee-deep in feces.

          So in your sense, I agree. Women demand that 50% of CEOs be female and they demand to work in air conditioned offices while remaining silent about female representation in the less prestigious but arguable more important job of making sure the electricity works and that the toilet flushes our poo correctly.

          society's wars

          At least 90% of people who die in wars are men. When can we expect to see more female soldiers taking one for the country?

          chase down criminals in the police force

          On second thoughts…

          3 Swedish Female police officers try to apprehend a singel violent refugee.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EWu-9uYKlw

          • @DeafMutePretender: You don't need help with this topic, you're on the right track already :)

            A society without bullies would be a defenseless, unrproductive, economically deprived hell hole. The bullies at the top are the ones who pay most of the taxes we rely on for our welfare state. Replace them with pushovers and suddenly a lot of jobs and industries would fall apart. Hurt feelings are a small price to pay.

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