Research

Background

The Gap in the Literature

Karen E. Ellis

Glass Ceiling Ventures, LLC, St. Charles, Missouri, United States

IAWBH 15th Biennial International Conference, June 2026

Theme: Other Relevant Topics: Novel Approaches

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Author Note

Correspondence concerning this abstract should be addressed to:

Karen E. Ellis, Glass Ceiling Ventures, LLC, 18 MB Corporate Park Court, St. Charles, MO 63301, United States.

Email: [email protected]   Website: tallpoppytheory.com

Abstract

The women most often bullied in the workplace are high-performing, independent, and well-liked (Namie & Namie, 2009). They are often advised to report it and follow the process. However, approximately two-thirds of those who follow this advice will face retaliation (Cortina & Magley, 2003). Retaliation requires knowing who spoke up. The field has largely overlooked that the visibility of a target's response shapes the outcome. Rusbult et al.'s Exit, Voice, Loyalty, Neglect (EVLN) framework (1988) was used to examine how response visibility matters. Thirteen high-performing women sat for semi-structured interviews, analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2019). A cross-sectional survey (n = 63) tested whether patterns held beyond those cases. Each participant was placed along the EVLN framework and classified by whether their tactics were overt or covert.

The results were striking. What mattered was not the EVLN pathway; it was how visible the response was. Of the 17 who responded overtly, 88% saw their professional reputation damaged, 76% said their mental health began to decline, and 47% were fired. Among the 17 who went covert, only 47% reported reputation damage (a 41% better outcome). 29% experienced worsened mental health, and just 6% were let go. Most notably, only covert Voice cases led to the removal of the perpetrator. This study expands the EVLN framework with findings that execution visibility holds across the chosen pathway, a factor not previously considered. The overt/covert distinction not only extends the framework, it challenges the very policies organizations tout as protections. Those brave enough to report consistently face worse outcomes once the organization learns their identity, causing additional harm. Practitioners and targets need approaches that put well-being first until issues are resolved. Until organizations address failures driving high retaliation rates, policymakers have a duty of care to ensure reporting is anonymous and easily accessible.

Keywords: workplace bullying, EVLN framework, anonymous reporting, retaliation

When institutional protections fail, how is execution visibility, overt versus covert, associated with outcomes for workplace bullying targets across different response pathways?

This research does not argue for silence. It examines how visibility, attribution, and timing were associated with different outcomes in this sample.

Theoretical Foundation

The EVLN Framework

This study builds on the established Exit, Voice, Loyalty, Neglect (EVLN) framework from organizational psychology, which describes how employees typically respond to dissatisfaction in the workplace. In the context of workplace bullying, these four pathways look like this:

The existing EVLN research helps describe the pathway a target uses. What it does not fully explain is how visible and attributable that response becomes, or how that visibility is associated with outcomes. That is the question at the center of this study.

Academic Positioning

Conference Presentation

This research was presented at the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment (IAWBH) 2026 Conference in Canberra, Australia, following peer review.

The IAWBH Conference, held biennially since 1998, is the leading international forum for research on workplace bullying, harassment, and related phenomena. It convenes researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from around the world to present and discuss the latest scholarship in the field.

Sources

Key References

Namie, G., & Namie, R. (2009). The bully at work: What you can do to stop the hurt and reclaim your dignity on the job (2nd ed.). Sourcebooks.

Rusbult, C. E., Farrell, D., Rogers, G., & Mainous, A. G. (1988). Impact of exchange variables on exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect: An integrative model of responses to declining job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 31(3), 599-627. https://doi.org/10.2307/256461

Withey, M. J., & Cooper, W. H. (1989). Predicting exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34(4), 521-539.