Association between Workplace Bullying and Social Workers' Well-Being: Exploring the Mediating Role of Meaning at Work.

This study investigates the relationship between workplace bullying and the well-being of social workers in Israel, focusing on the mediating role of meaning at work, based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory. It distinguishes bullying by managers from bullying by colleagues, finding that bullying by managers negatively affects social workers' sense of meaning at work, which in turn influences their well-being indirectly, while bullying by colleagues has both a direct negative impact on well-being and an indirect effect through reduced meaning at work. The research highlights the unique harm caused by peer bullying in social work settings and underscores the importance of organizational policies and support systems to protect social workers' professional meaning and personal well-being. Limitations include a nonrandom sample and cross-sectional design, with recommendations for future research to explore diverse bullying forms, contexts, and mitigation strategies.