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Received: 17 August 2022    Revised: 28 December 2022    Accepted: 7 July 2023
DOI: 10.1002/nop2.1938
CONCEPT
Bullied: Exploring the concepts of territorialism and groupthink
involvement in workplace bullying
Cheryl Green1  | Ada Dimino Luong2
1
Yale-­New Haven Health System, Milford,
Connecticut, USA
2
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut,
USA
Correspondence
Cheryl Green, Southern Connecticut State
University, 501 Crescent Street, College
of Health and Human Services, Office
314, School of Nursing, New Haven, CT
06515, USA.
Email: Cheryl.Green@bpthosp.org
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
© 2023 The Authors. Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Nursing Open. 2023;00:1–5. 
Abstract
Aims: To educate nurse managers on territorialism and groupthink as being factors
within workplace bullying among nurses within the clinical and academic settings that
can psychologically and physically harm affected persons.
Design: Territorialism and groupthink are explored as being factors within work-
place bullying used by a bully or bullies to target others for personal gain and power.
Workplace bullying has become habitual practice in nursing and nursing academia.
Workplace bullying is identified not only as unethical behaviour but also as a danger-
ous practice that can lead to depression, anxiety, stress, and posttraumatic distress
syndrome. Persons affected are subjected to emotional abuse that can lead to isola-
tion, low self-­esteem, and self-­doubt.
Methods: Methods by which persons in the workplace can identify bullying that in-
volves territorialism and groupthink are examined. Nurse managers are identified as
being instrumental in the identification of workplace bullying involving territorialism
and groupthink, and in working with the affected person(s) and bully or bullies to
seek mediation through a human resource representative. For nursing managers, it
is imperative that workplace bullying is immediately addressed. Workplace bullying
creates a hostile and intimidating working environment that affects the physical and
mental health of affected persons.
Results: Early identification and resolution of workplace bullying could alleviate the
development of physiological and psychological health problems by affected persons.
After workplace bullying has been reported, the affected persons should focus on the
healing of mind, spirit, and body. New circumstances (e.g., a new place of employment
or a promotion) may trigger feelings of anger, intimidation or fear; therefore, it' is im-
portant for persons who have experienced bullying in the workplace to understand
the abusive environment itself was not directly associated with any wrongdoing by
them.
No Patient or Public Contribution: Workplace bullying is disruptive to the workplace
and affects productivity, absenteeism from work and turnover intentions. Persons
impacted by territorialism and groupthink within the context of workplace bullying
can develop psychological and physiological health problems.
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2      GREEN and DIMINO LUONG
KEYWORDS
bullying, employers, groupthink, nurses, territorialism, workplace
1  |  I NTRO D U C TI O N
Workplace bullying within the healthcare sector is well documented.
According to the Joint Commission, the national accrediting orga-
nization for healthcare facilities within the United States, “Civility
is a system value that improves safety in healthcare settings”
(Joint Commission, 2021). The United States Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines workplace
violence as, “…any act or threat of physical violence, harassment,
intimidation, or threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the
worksite” (United States Department of Labor, 2022).
1.1  |  Concepts of territorialism and groupthink
Concepts of territorialism and groupthink are ideological approaches
used by workplace bullies to gain control of others. Workplace bul-
lies often attempt to target persons whom they perceive as a profes-
sional threat or identify as a target because of perceived personal
weakness (e.g., the quiet worker who tends to be focused on the
completion of their work only in the workplace). For nurse managers
and employers, understanding territorialism and groupthink as be-
haviours within the workplace that are not conducive to collegiality,
can bring clarity to the identification of unhealthy workplace bully-
ing situations. When situations are recognized as bullying, advocacy
for affected nurses and disciplinary action against nurses who bully
can then occur.
Territorialism and groupthink are factors in workplace bullying
which can be precipitants to group-­based bullying that randomly
targets co-­workers or subordinates will be conceptually examined.
The targeted party is not expecting the act of bullying and hence
is surprised and without defence against the attack. The motive of
group-­based bullies is to assume power, undermind others for self-­
gratification, and attempt to belittle or subjugate the affected party
(or parties) to humiliation and shame, often resorting to lying in order
to maintain their self-­perceived power (Islam & Chaudhary,  2022;
Thompson et al., 2020).
Territorialism and groupthink are used by a bully or bullies to tar-
get others in the workplace for personal gain and power. Workplace
bullying has become habitual in nursing practice and nursing aca-
demia (Green, 2019a). Workplace bullying is identified not only as
unethical behaviour but can also be established as a dangerous prac-
tice that can lead to depression, anxiety, stress, and posttraumatic
distress syndrome. The affected person(s) is subjected to emotional
abuse that promotes isolation, low self-­
esteem, and self-­
doubt
(Shorey & Wong, 2021; Telloian, 2022).
Workplace bullying by colleagues or leadership creates a harm-
ful and health-­threatening environment that negatively affects the
physical and mental health of the individual (s) targeted (Chaudhary
& Islam, 2022; Green, 2019a). Workplace absenteeism is a compli-
cation of workplace bullying related to stress levels affecting the
health and well-­being of the victim. Incivility in the workplace pro-
motes loss of valuable employees and compromises employers' re-
cruitment and retaining of qualified candidates. Hence, workplace
bullying can be very costly for employers (Green, 2019a).
2  |  BAC KG RO U N D
2.1  |  Territorialism
Territorialism is exhibited in the workplace by a person or persons
whom hold a formal or nonformal leadership position (Green, 2019b).
The formal leader will hold an actual position such as a manager, di-
rector, or administrator. While the informal leader may be a person
or persons who have historically, been an employee for several years
and is either feared or admonished by their fellow colleagues. The in-
formal leader holds the knowledge of the history of the organization
and is familiar with how to manoeuvre within the workplace to bring
about positive and negative responses (e.g., starts rumours, resorts
to distortions of the truth).
Within territorialism, there emerges within the workplace, a toxic
culture whereby the bully or bullies will undermine those around
them to protect their status in their organization. Territorial types are
apprehensive of losing control and fearful of not being able to suc-
cessfully maintain their own position (Axelsson & Axelsson,  2009;
Ayoko et al., 2009) within the workplace.
2.2  |  Groupthink
A phenomenon whereby when a group of people no longer express
their opinions or thoughts as individuals, but agree with the stated
beliefs of the group itself, is referred to as groupthink. One of the
concerns with groupthink is the similarity of thoughts and beliefs
of group members (Bang & Frith,  2017). The shared thoughts and
beliefs of the group, can prevent them from hearing the individual
opinions of others both inside and outside of their group consensus.
Hence, the danger of groupthink is the inevitable bias that can con-
tribute to both divisive and undermining conduct directed at others
(Akhmad et al., 2021; Bang & Frith,  2017). Group think promotes
isolation of the targeted person in the work environment, conse-
quently fostering a lack of support from work colleagues, exclusion
from job-­related trainings and updates from leadership and/or col-
leagues. The latter imposes hardship on the targeted individual in
performing their job.
GREEN and DIMINO LUONG
3  |   E VA LUATI O N
3.1  |  The harm of territorialism and groupthink in
organizations
Groupthink and territorialism can be depicted as an authoritarian
habitude behaviour in the workplace. In nursing and health care,
groupthink can be utilized in the establishment of authority over
newcomers to the workplace environment. Groupthink and territo-
rialism used to set guidelines on practice and established seniority
allow for unhealthy and destructive behaviours by persons such as
co-­workers, managers and persons in other leadership positions to
create workplace environments whereby bullying and incivility be-
come the norm (Shorey & Wong, 2021). Hence, employee turnover
intentions occur more because newer employees feel unsupported
or are fearful of reporting the unhealthy behaviours they witness.
Unfortunately, this creates an uncivil working environment
where affected persons can feel isolated, with limited or no voice
over their practice, thus leading to potential compromised patient
care (Baek & Trinkoff,  2022; Shorey & Wong,  2021). Moreover,
groupthink promotes unawareness of current healthcare practice
that deviates from today's health care needs in an already challenged
industry (Carlson, n.d.) and places patients at risk for harm by un-
intentional medical error(s) (American Nurses Association, 2015).
Groupthink in the workplace forces targeted persons to abide by set
guidelines that can be unethical, dangerous or outdated. Groupthink
can also affect senior staff when the group feels threatened by the
success of others.
Territorialism prevents creativity and innovation in the work-
place by suppressing ideas of others. This behaviour harms the or-
ganization as a whole from moving to new and innovative practice.
Persons who exhibit territorialism in the workplace are more likely
to bully or attempt to steal the ideas of others and present them as
their own.
4  |   K E Y I S S U E S
4.1  |  A hypothetical case study
This is a hypothetical case study and is meant to serve as an example
of the use of territorialism and groupthink within the workplace.
Workplace Scenario: Daniel is a 26-­year-­old male who has been
a nurse for 5 years. Daniel works on a busy medical-­surgical unit that
receives an overflow of patients from the telemetry unit. He is highly
motivated and a team player.
For the past 3 weeks, Sarah, a nurse of 17 years on the Medical-­
Surgical Unit, has been observed by nursing staff to repeatedly criti-
cize Daniel's work openly in front of his peers. Daniel has attempted
twice to meet with Sarah to discuss her interactions with him on
the unit and open criticism of his work but to no avail. Sarah be-
comes defensive and blames Daniel, taking no responsibility for her
own behaviours. Daniel's co-­workers have taken notice of Daniel's
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maltreatment in the workplace and reported what they observed to
their nurse manager.
Daniel received a phone call from his nurse manager and a human
resources representative who requests to interview him about what
his co-­workers have observed in the workplace. Daniel is nervous.
He never expected any of this to happen. He wonders what he could
have done to make Sarah treat him in such a disrespectful manner.
Daniel's appetite has decreased. He has had an unintentional
weight loss of five pounds. Daniel has difficulty concentrating and
is sleeping four to 5 h a night, perseverating on the incidences of
maltreatment at work.
4.2  |  Bullied
Daniel was bullied. After a person recognizes that they have been
bullied, they may perseverate on how and why the bullying occurred.
Sometimes, the affected person(s) may even blame themselves.
Sarah, Daniel's co-­worker, was territorial. She did not feel com-
fortable with Daniel's knowledge and success within the workplace.
As a result, Sarah attempted to use groupthink via openly criticizing
Daniel in the presence of his co-­workers, in hopes that they would
join her in identifying Daniel as a threat to the culture of the work-
place. Fortunately, Daniel's co-­workers made the decision not to
enter into groupthink with Sarah and bully Daniel. The co-­workers
instead, made the decision to advocate for Daniel.
4.3  |  Organizational
acknowledgement of the problem
Organizational acknowledgement of the maltreatment that Daniel
sustained from his co-­worker Sarah was an unnecessary disruption
to Daniel's life. Daniel had already begun to experience the physi-
ological and psychological effects of his co-­worker's bullying as evi-
dence of his insomnia, changes in appetite, and decrease ability to
concentrate. The human resources representative and nurse man-
ager reached out to Daniel and wanted to meet with him based on
the reports of his colleagues. With organizational acknowledgement,
an investigation can be implemented to examine how, by whom, and
why Daniel was maltreated in the workplace. Harassment in the
workplace has been related as the source of work-­related injury in
addition to psychological stressors (Teo et al., 2021).
Workplace harassment is a very serious issue. The United
States (U.S.) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (n.d)
describes harassment as: “Harassment is a form of employment
discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, (ADEA),
and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, (ADA)” (para
1). When the actions of the abuser are oppressive by creating a
threatening and aggressive environment, the conduct becomes
unlawful (EEOC,  n.d.). Moreover, retaliation is impermissible by
the Anti-­D iscrimination law when an employee files a complaint
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4      GREEN and DIMINO LUONG
(EEOC, n.d.). Organizations should have policies and guidelines to
train their employees and nursing leadership on workplace bul-
lying. In the profession of nursing, maintaining a zero tolerance
for workplace bullying and uncivil conduct is the recommendation
by the American Nurses Association, the professional organiza-
tion for nurses (ANA, 2015). A formal grievance process should
be established to assist employers when a complaint is made
(EEOC, n.d.). Early reporting is recommended by persons impacted
so as to stop the abuse. Affected persons can also request to meet
with the aggressor one-­on-­one to address their unprofessional
conduct, or seek mediation with a representative from Human
Resources. Review of the complaint of the harassment allega-
tions with formal investigation should be conducted by Human
Resources. For organizations with a union, a representative from
the affected nurse's union may be contacted, or when applicable,
a diversity, equity, and inclusion (e.g., cases involving age, gender,
sex, pregnancy, or race discrimination) representative may also be
involved in the investigation.
5  |  CO N C LU S I O N S
5.1  |  Steps towards healing
After workplace bullying has been reported, the affected person
should focus on healing of mind, body, and spirit. Workplace bul-
lying can be difficult to overcome; it may take some time before
the individual (s) can heal from the emotional distress. However,
new situations (e.g., a new place of employment or a promotion)
may trigger feelings of anger, intimidation or fear; it is important
for individuals who have experienced bullying in the workplace
to understand the abusive environment was not associated with
any of their wrong-­doing (Gordon, 2020; Jang et al.,  2022; Peng
et al., 2022). Professional counselling or sharing the events of bully-
ing with someone (e.g., a friend, colleague, or clergy) who will keep
the information disclosed confidential, can promote healing. Moving
forward, affected persons can become stronger and wiser in their
ability to self-­care and advocate for themselves and others. The lat-
ter allows affected persons to concentrate on career goals and per-
sonal accomplishments (Gordon, 2020; Green, 2019a, 2019b; Peng
et al., 2022; Shorey & Wong, 2021) unfettered.
Gordon (2020) recommends that physical and mental heal-
ing be given a priority by persons affected by workplace bullying.
Gordon (2020) suggests that affected persons seek a therapist or
counsellor to understand how to let go of the negative feelings and
move forward. Affected persons should seek information on work-
place bullying to help find closure, and being able cope with work-
place bullying if exposed to a similar situation in the future. Consider
a new position or career change to move forward and leave the
workplace bullying ordeal in the past; start a new hobby, and re-
awaken your individuality as a creative and innovator (Gordon, 2020;
Green, 2019a; Jang et al., 2022).
5.2  |  Implications for nurse management
For nursing managers, it is imperative that workplace bullying is
immediately addressed. Workplace bullying creates a hostile and
intimidating working environment that affects the physical and
mental health of affected persons. The affected persons are not
expecting the hostile working environment and are targeted by
an individual or group of people who wish to maintain dominance
and recognition.
Nurse managers, in intervening with their nursing staff within
clinical practice and academia, must examine how the workplace is
being impacted by employees exhibiting territorialism and group-
think towards others. Territorialism and groupthink both can be used
by bullies to attempt to gain control over others by preventing their
personal growth within their workplace role(s). These actions and
behaviours are perpetrated by the bullies or bully to maintain their
perceived status or power within the workplace.
Nurse managers must ensure that affected persons can com-
fortability reach out to nursing leadership, human resources,
consult with a diversity, equity, and inclusion representative, or
directly confront the bully or bullies to stop the cycle (e.g., use
of a mediator such as a nurse manager or human resources rep-
resentative is recommended). Confidentiality should be main-
tained around the reporting of incidences by affected person(s).
Additionally, once workplace bullying is identified, it is impera-
tive that nurse leadership implements training for nurses, man-
agement, and unit-­b ased team leadership, on workplace bullying
prevention, and establish a formal grievance process when a com-
plaint is made. Moreover, each complaint should be reviewed for
unlawful behaviour (EEOC, n.d.).
In supporting healthy work environments, nursing management
should understand the physiological and psychological impact of
workplace bullying on affected persons. Bullying places affected
persons at risk for physical and mental health problems. Persons af-
fected by bullying should be referred to the Employee Assistance
Program (EAP) for counselling, or seek a counsellor or therapist in
the community to heal mentally and physically from the ordeal. It
is also important that affected nurses are also seen by a medical
provider to avoid the emergence of physical illness (Green, 2019a,
2019b; Peng et al., 2022).
AU T H O R C O N T R I B U T I O N S
Both authors contributed equally to the writing of this manuscript.
AC K N O​W L E D
​ G E ​M E N T S
Thank you to my co-­author for her work on this manuscript.
F U N D I N G I N FO R M AT I O N
No funding was required in the completion of this manuscript.
C O N FL I C T O F I N T E R E S T S TAT E M E N T
There are no known or identified conflict of interest by the authors.
GREEN and DIMINO LUONG |
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