مجله پژوهش های راهبردی مسائل اجتماعی ایران
سال دوازدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 40، بهار 1402)

The study of social harm has long been the focus of social thinkers. One group considers them to be caused by human nature, which is often rooted in psychological theories, while another group considers them to be caused by the environment and the nature of society. Several factors have been considered in the occurrence of social harm. Among these factors, economic conditions of the society play a significant role. Crime as one of the most obvious social harms in any societies has caused countries to increase the costs of security and public order, resulting in inefficient use of resources in both the public and private sectors. Given the wide dimensions of social harms and increasing spread of criminal activities in the society, this study examined the economic factors affecting social harms with a specific focus on the crime of theft in East Azarbaijan Province. The study aimed to answer the question of whether an increase in the poverty index, living costs, and economic growth in the province could affect the commission of theft.

This study investigated the impact of several economic variables, including Gross National Product (GDP), misery index, food and non-food expenditure, and population growth, on the social damage caused by crime in East Azarbaijan Province from 2000 to 2020. The required data were obtained from the statistical yearbook of East Azarbaijan Province, as well as the statistical yearbook of the country for different years. The appropriate models were selected based on theoretical topics, empirical research studies, and considerations of data and information. The desired pattern was estimated using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) with the collected data.

Discussion of Results & Conclusion  :

The results obtained indicated that the misery index had a short and long-term impact on the number of thefts in East Azarbaijan Province. The misery index directly affected the individuals' living standards through the inflation and unemployment rates, reducing their financial resources, incomes, and purchasing power, which could lead to an increase in criminal activities. Inflationary conditions had decreased the purchasing power of households and increased the cost of living, prompting people to turn to criminal activities to maintain their previous standard of living. Unemployment, on the other hand, contributed to poverty, economic inequalities, and reduced opportunities for earning and employment, leading to crimes, deviations, tensions, social disorders, and violence.Additionally, the results showed that an increase in the gross domestic product of the province led to a decrease in theft. Economic growth and expansion improved business conditions, provided employment opportunities, generated income, and reduced motivation for criminal activities, such as theft. The study also revealed that the highest growth of theft occurred in 2008, coinciding with the lowest level of the GDP in the province. Increases in the cost of living and the average cost of food and non-food items due to inflation had a direct relationship with theft in East Azarbaijan Province.Based on the obtained results and the impact of the studied economic variables on crime in East Azarbaijan Province, it is necessary to focus on planning and policy-making to reduce inflation and unemployment, as well as creating production and employment opportunities.

Environmental crimes are one of the important topics of green criminology. Green criminology deals with crimes and damages that affect the environment, plants, and lives of domestic and wild animals. The results of various reports indicate that the 5 areas of illegal trade in wildlife, timber and forest trees, substances that destroy the ozone layer, discharge of hazardous waste, and illegal fishing outside of the prescribed time are among the most important and common types of environmental crimes in the world. Crimes against the environment are one of the major cases of environmental destruction that have now become important national and global issues. During the recent decades, many studies have been conducted to identify and explain environmental crimes though they have sometimes had conflicting and contradictory results, which create ambiguities in this issue. Due to the abundance and diversity of research conducted in the field of environmental crimes, a combination of research in this area, like a systematic review, is felt to be necessary. The main question of this research was as follows: What are the most important factors affecting environmental crimes?

The research method of this paper was based on a systematic review and meta-analysis. The method of systematic review presents a summary of research results in the form of a table and uses the technique of counting opinions. It is a kind of summary of the existing literature and writings about a specific scientific topic, which uses certain methods to search the literature and critically evaluate each research. In addition to the systematic review, the meta-analysis method was used in this study. The term ‘meta-analysis’ means analysis of analyses. A particular topic may have been replicated in various ways by using, for example, differently sized samples and conducting research in different countries under varied environmental, social, and economic conditions. Sometimes, the results appear to be reasonably consistent; others less so. Meta-analysis enables a rigorous comparison to be made rather than focusing on a subjective 'eyeballing'. However, the technique relies on all the relevant information being available for each of the examined studies. If some crucial factors like sample size and methodology are missing, then, no comparison is feasible. Meta-analysis allows us to compare or combine results across a set of similar studies. The units of analysis in individual studies are individual observations. In meta-analysis, the units of analysis are the results of individual studies. Meta-analysis is an objective and quantitative methodology for synthesizing the previous studies and research on a particular topic into an overall finding.In meta-analysis, literature from written sources is placed in a systematic review to determine, based on previous studies, how much is the effect of one variable on another variable. Meta-analysis involves the results of studies as the unit of analysis, specifically results in the form of effect sizes. Obtaining these effect sizes does not require having access to the raw data, which are all-too-often unavailable. It is usually possible to compute these effect sizes from the data reported in papers resulting from the original, primary, or secondary analysis. Meta-analysis is a literature review to summarize the findings of various studies conducted on the same subject matter. It is used only when the examined studies are in the form of quantity studies.In this study, articles were reviewed by using a systematic review, in which topics, such as research method, used variables, and the geographical area or territory under investigation are addressed. After the systematic review, the effect size of each variable is assessed. The population of this study included almost all scientific papers with the subject of factors related to environmental crimes published between 2001 and 2021. Finally, 44 papers were selected and analyzed. For analyzing the data collected from the relevant research, the comprehensive meta-analysis software was used for meta-analysis statistical calculations after coding the data. Also, Cohen's table was applied for interpreting the effect sizes.

The results of the systematic review showed that illegal wildlife hunters and then illegal wildlife dealers were among the most frequently investigated populations in the field of environmental crimes. Most of the research related to environmental crimes had been done in African regions. The regions of East Asia, North America, and Eastern and Western Europe were in the next ranks. The results showed that the process of law enforcement, market demand, and unemployment, compared to other variables, had a significant impact on environmental crimes.The findings revealed that the relationship between market demand and environmental crimes in the studies reviewed was positive and significant (effect size = 0.51). The relationship between unemployment and livelihoods and environmental crimes in the studies reviewed was positive and significant (effect size = 0.38) as well. These results demonstrated that the combined effects of the relationship between the process of law enforcement and environmental crimes in the reviewed studies were equivalent to 0.32, thus being positive and significant.

Profession and job are the important parts of a person's identity, indicating his/her position in the society. It is referred to as professional identity. The professional identity of teachers in Iran is facing serious challenges and we are indeed experiencing a crisis in their professional identity. In today's Iranian society, the teaching profession has become ordinary and inferior. Research documents demonstrate that the current situation has significantly decreased teachers' desire for productive work and professional affiliation. Lack of motivation, work scarcity, excessive fatigue, interest in leaving teaching profession, and feelings of regret for choosing this career have increased among teachers. Social and cultural elites have emphasized the critical importance of the professional identity of Iranian teachers. However, this issue has received less theoretical and empirical attention in Iran. Considering the problematic nature of professional identity and the existing research literature in this field, it is necessary to take a fresh look at this issue. Let's explore what teachers truly think about their identity and what they mean by their professional identity from their own perspectives. Additionally, let's examine the conditions and factors that are effective in the formation of teachers' professional identity. The professional identity of teachers is influenced by what processes it follows and how it is formed This research was conducted among teachers in Yazd City due to the educational structure of Yazd Province. It has consistently achieved the best position in the national entrance exam for the past 27 years, thus being affected by the issue of the national entrance exam. Based on the theoretical framework of this research, identity is formed during a social process and through social interactions. It is a dynamic matter that is constantly subject to change. In the approach of social identity, individuals do not simply consider different groups as the defining reference for their identity. Instead, they actively engage in this field and the ideas they have about their profession give rise to different thoughts and emotions, which in turn have varying effects on their performance. Since this research aimed to investigate the process and formation of teachers' approach to profession, Kathy Charmaz's constructivist approach was utilized. This approach places emphasis on diverse local worlds, multiple realities, and complexity of specific worlds, viewpoints, and actions. It also focuses on people's views, values, beliefs, feelings, assumptions, and ideology.

The current research adopted an interpretive paradigm and utilized a qualitative methodology. Among the various methods of qualitative research, the contextual theory strategy (Kathy Charmaz's structuralist approach) was employed. The sampling method used in this research was theoretical and purposeful. The target population consisted of teachers in Yazd City, who were selected from different educational levels with varying work records and fields of expertise. The sample size included 20 individuals. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews with each interview lasting an average time of 120 to 180 min. The process of sample collection continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, meaning that no new information was obtained from the interviewees. Line-by-line analysis was employed to analyze the data. The coding method involved primary codes, focused codes, and theoretical codes, from which the research categories were derived. Measures were taken to ensure the research validity and reliability.

Discussion of Results & Conclusion   

The research results indicated that individual and social factors played a significant role in entering the teaching profession. The integration of subjective, mental, and social elements was crucial for a conscious and voluntary decision to become a teacher. However, the students' perceptions of working conditions and the teachers’ low status had led some individuals to feel reluctant about entering this profession, stating that they were drawn to it unwillingly. According to the theoretical model of this research, the individuals shaped their professional identity throughout their professional journey influenced by interactions with educational, political, economic, and social systems. Through their engagement with the educational system, they had come to understand that being a teacher entailed possessing knowledge, commitment, taking action, engaging in interactions, upholding ethics, and pursuing professional goals and ideals. Additionally, their experiences in schools and classrooms had contributed to the development of their attitudes towards their profession, which could be categorized as 1) fears and worries and 2) sufferings and hardship of teaching profession.  Furthermore, their interactions with various social, economic, and political systems had led them to perceive their professional identity as being economically inferior. They expressed a lack of professional authority and freedom, feeling like tools for implementing the goals and ideologies of the political system and experiencing a weak social position.Overall, based on the aforementioned conditions and contexts, the category of the decline of teachers' identity dissatisfied both objectively and subjectively had emerged. Teachers claimed that they lacked a desirable professional identity as their position and status within their professional identity were declining and they were dissatisfied with their situation. They perceived a decline in their social status and held a negative view towards the future of teaching profession. Additionally, they expressed dissatisfaction with their living conditions. Based on the research findings, several actions could be suggested to revitalize teachers' identity. These included improving teachers' living conditions, ensuring a balanced approach to development of the education and learning system by the government, reducing the pressure of external control, and providing teachers with a quality support.

From a social psychology perspective, a citizen, who possesses awareness of their own rights and the rights of society, understands themselves as a member of society, and comprehends the broader societal objectives, has a responsibility to fulfill their obligations towards that society. In the 21st century, citizenship encompasses not only knowledge of one's rights but also the willingness to act independently, ensuring that decisions and behavior consistently reflect moral considerations, social justice, and human dignity. Citizenship encompasses various dimensions, including political, civil, social, environmental, and sustainability. Additionally, the expansion of virtual spaces and media has given rise to new dimensions known as media and digital citizenship within the realm of modern citizenship. An important aspect to consider after discussing the comprehensive dimensions of modern citizenship is that, despite the increasing focus of scientific societies on citizenship education in recent years, it remains challenging to assess the impact of citizenship education without a suitable and comprehensive measurement tool, particularly for Iranian society. A review of available tools from outside of Iran reveals that each tool only addresses a specific aspect of citizenship behaviors. Most of these tools prioritize dimensions, such as attitude, thinking, and knowledge, often neglecting the behavioral dimension. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to construct and validate a citizenship behavior questionnaire that could encompass inclusive and comprehensive dimensions for students. By implementing this validated tool before and after educational interventions, it could be utilized to evaluate citizenship across various domains and assess the effectiveness of educational interventions.

To develop a questionnaire for measuring citizenship behaviors across political, civil, social, environmental, sustainable development, media, and digital dimensions, relevant items were selected from the most suitable existing questionnaires in this field. A comprehensive set of questions was created for each dimension and duplicate items were eliminated. Attitude items were modified to measure behavior and supplementary questions were combined. The resulting questionnaire consisted of 106 items, which were then reviewed by 5 experts in the field to assess content and form validity.The target population for this research comprised students from Isfahan universities during the first half of the academic year 2022-2023. Multi-stage cluster sampling was employed to select the participants. A total of 579 individuals completed the questionnaire, but 22 incomplete responses were excluded from the analysis. Therefore, 557 questionnaires were considered complete and suitable for analysis. A scoring system was established, where a score of 1 represented "never" and a score of 4 represented "always," except for items 30 and 85, which were reverse-scored.

The majority of participants in this study were female students, who were single, with an average age of 22.99 years. Following the criterion of factor load in the revision process, several items were removed from the questionnaire. Specifically, Question 3 from the political section, Question 8 from the civil section, Question 30 from the social section, and Questions 51 and 65 from the environment and sustainable development section were eliminated. Additionally, Item 94 from the media section and Items 71, 80, and 85 from the digital section were removed. In the subsequent step, Item 86 was also excluded.Exploratory factor analysis was then conducted using the Varimax rotation method. The analysis results obtained through Amos software, version 24, indicated the suitability of the questionnaire (CMIN=1035.408, df=318, P=0.000, IFI=0.910, CFI=0.909, TLI=0.886, RMSEA=0.064, and PCLOSE=0.011). The reliability of the questionnaire and its respective dimensions was assessed using Cronbach's alpha, a measure of internal consistency and reliability. The overall Cronbach's alpha for the political dimension was 0.603 with values ranging from 0.567 to 0.654 for its individual dimensions. The civil dimension had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.760, while the social dimension had an overall alpha of 0.862 with values ranging from 0.436 to 0.807 for its dimensions. The environment and sustainable development dimension had an overall alpha of 0.887 with values ranging from 0.505 to 0.796 for its dimensions. The media dimension had an overall alpha of 0.714 with values ranging from 0.385 to 0.615 for its dimensions. Lastly, the digital dimension had an overall alpha of 0.853 with values ranging from 0.699 to 0.806 for its dimensions. To assess convergent validity, 4 questionnaires were administered simultaneously, yielding favorable correlation results. This research aimed to develop and preliminarily validate a comprehensive citizenship questionnaire for students. Based on the results of this questionnaire, which consisted of 6 sections, the dimensions of political citizenship included 6 questions related to participation and persuasion. The civil citizenship section comprised 7 questions. The social citizenship section encompassed 28 questions across 7 dimensions, including dealing with others, considering others, dealing with differences, expressing opinions, compatibility, responsible communication, and critical participation. The environmental citizenship and sustainable development section consisted of 18 questions across 4 dimensions, covering topics, such as purchase and consumption, maintenance, education, and attention to nutrition. The media citizenship section included 13 questions across 3 dimensions, focusing on awareness of representation and its impact on the audience, critical evaluation, and awareness for participation. Lastly, the digital citizenship section comprised 23 questions across 4 dimensions, including ethics and responsibilities, online participation, digital literacy, and learning.
It is hoped that with the utilization of this constructed and introduced questionnaire, it will be possible to assess the state of citizenship behavior and ensure the effectiveness of education in this domain.

From the point of view of health and mental health experts, high-risk behaviors are one of the basic problems of physical and psycho-social health for individuals and society. These behaviors are referred to as destructive behaviors that occur intentionally or without considering the consequences and cause adverse consequences for the individual and the society (Maleki Golandoz & Sardari, 2019). Adolescence includes the critical years of maturity and creates new changes in teenagers. During this period, physical, sexual, and cognitive growths undergo changes that have a tremendous effect on adolescent behavior (Steinberg, 2019). It is also formed during the period of identity search and achieving independence. Therefore, teenagers are not psychologically stable until they reach a clear and fixed identity (Klimstra & van Doeselaar, 2017). In this period, when many behavioral problems appear in teenagers, environmental pressures, in addition to behavioral and emotional problems, increase their incompatibility and conflicts in different areas (Lavasani et al., 2019: 162). All of these characteristics cause teenagers to experience new situations and bring a lot of harmful health problems for him. This is the result of risky and problematic behaviors, such as unhealthy habits, eating disorders, dangerous driving and accidents, consumption of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances, violence against oneself and others, and even the possibility of the spread of behaviors, such as suicide and other self-harming behaviors (Moghadami & Jahangiri, 2020: 160). Therefore, in this research, it was felt necessary to investigate and analyze social harms concerning teenagers with the subject of examining the family's (social, economic, symbolic, and cultural) capitals on high-risk (self-injurious and other-injurious) behaviors of male and female secondary school students in Al-Shatar City and its villages So as to identify and provide helpful solutions to improve their social problems.

Materials & Methods :

The current study was of a broad type based on the method of collecting the data and an applied research based on the purpose and in terms of depth. Taking into account the criteria of time, the cross-sectional data on several traits studied in the year of 2018-2019) were collected. The statistical population included all 2967 male and female secondary school students of Al-Shatar City. Based on Cochran's formula, a statistical sample of 340 people was estimated and the quota sampling was determined according to the share of the population of students living in the city and villages, gender, and type of school. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure all the variables and obtain the necessary information. The face validity and reliability of the variables were measured based on Cronbach's alpha.

Discussion of Results & Conclusion    :

Order and balance in the family has an inverse relationship with delinquency (Samadian and Najafi Tawana, 2017). The relationships between parents and children, family disintegration, lack of order and balance in the family, etc. play an important role in juvenile delinquency (Ismaili et al., 2019).The researches that have been conducted about tendency towards adolescents’ high-risk behaviors and family support show that the decrease of parental support and family cohesion is associated with the increase of depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption in adolescents (Watkins & Rostosky, 2010).Adolescence is one of the most important and sensitive periods in the life of every person. In this era, the dimensions of a person's identity undergo fundamental changes. Therefore, family as the first and most important social institution for children plays a prominent and important role. It can be acknowledged that the existence of different dimensions of social, cultural, symbolic capitals, etc. in the heart of the family institution leads to the development of normal personality in teenagers.The results of the descriptive section of this research indicated that the average score of risky behavior among the sample of respondents was lower than average. The averagescore of self-injurious behavior was higher than that of other-injurious behavior. The average social capital had an average score according to the scores of participation, trust, and awareness among its components. The average cultural capital had a lower score than average based on the embodied, objectified, and institutionalized scores among its components, respectively. The average symbolic capital had a lower score than average according to the social, cultural, and economiccomponents,respectively.Finally, the average economic capital had a lower score than average and among its components, the situational score was higher than the attitudinal score when valuing the family's economic capital by the students.It is noteworthy that among the capitals that the students evaluated for their families, social capital with the highest score had the first rank and then cultural, economic, and symbolic capitals were followed.In the inferential part of the research, there was an inverse and significant relationship between the variable of social capital of family and the degree of tendency to risky behavior. Bourdieu describes it as a capital due to improving the activists’ membership and participation in social networks, while Hirschi considers the context of crime to be strengthened by social bonds. The theory of social control considers supervision and community links important in controlling criminal persons. In this regard, our finding is consistent with those of the researches conducted by Alborzi et al. (2018), Niazi et al. (2017), Pfeiffer et al. (2017), Loch et al. (2015), and Pinxten & Lievens (2014).There was an inverse and significant relationship between the variable of cultural capital of family and the degree of tendency to risky behavior. According to Bourdieu, there is a set of capabilities, habits, and cultural traits, including the language of taste and people’s lifestyle, which are considered as the knowledge that enables people to interpret various cultural codes. It is the framework of analysis and reproduction of class power and privilege that is raised in the process of the influence of culture in social inequalities. According to Merton's pressure/anomie theory, the two elements of social culture, namely institutionalized norms (legitimate tools) and cultural goals, are considered to be important. He believes that pressure problems arise when there is no proportion between goals and tools in the society, that is, when opportunities are blocked for people due to their social class positions. This provides the basis for a person's delinquency. Also,the theory of self-control considers a person's assessment of the risks of punishment and internal self-control to reduce the tendency to a deviant behavior. The theory of deterrence believes that an increase in the level of a person's understanding of the possibility of punishment and its severity reduces the probability of a deviant behavior. Moreover, the theory of social learning considers a deviant behavior as a learned behavior that is learned in the process of relating to others, (especially the important others like parents and friends. In this regard, our finding is congruent with those of the studies performed by Partovi (2019), Qeisari et al. (2019), Ahmadi et al. (2019), Albarzi et al. (2018), Arabnejad (2017), Niazi et al. (2017), Pfeiffer et al. (2017), and Gagné et al. (2015), but not consistent with that of the research done by Pinxten & Lievens (2014), which points to the lack of a relationship between these two variables.There was not an indirect and significant relationship between the variable of family symbolic capital and the degree of the students' tendencies to risky behavior. According to Bourdieu, there is a set of symbolic tools, dignity, respect, and individual capabilities in the behaviors that a person possesses. It means that he/she has the ability to legitimize, define, and value them. The anomic pressure theory believes that the amount of deviant behavior increases when there is no ability to maintain a balance between cultural goals and tools. In this regard, our finding is not consistent with those of the research carried out by Niyazi et al. (2017) and Pfeiffer et al. (2017), who found an inverse and significant relationship between these two variables.There was an inverse and significant relationship between the variable of economic capital of family, i.e., the wealth and money that each social actor has in his/her hand and includes income and other types of financial resources that are institutionalized in the form of ownership, and the degree of tendency to risky behavior. Bourdieu defines other capitals to be in a close relationship with economic capital. Merton's pressure theory and the development of Durkheim's theory of anomie state that pressure problems arise when life goals, such as financial success, are emphasized a lot and the ways to achieve those goals are blocked; thus, people do not succeed in achieving them due to their social class positions. Moreover, Cohen's theory believes that values ​​are closely related to the middle class. Most of these shared values ​​emphasize goals that lead to success. Therefore, success itself becomes an approved public goal. Opportunities to achieve goals are more available to the middle compared to the lower class. The lower-class youths experience a form of cultural conflict that is called failure status. As a result, many of them enter into delinquent drug gangs, which have their own subculture, that is, it actually takes its norms from the larger culture but turns them upside downIn this regard, our finding is consistent with those of the researches done by Niyazi et al. (2017), Pfeiffer et al. (2017), and Pinxten & Lievens (2014).The mean difference in relation to the background variables was different according to gender, type of field of study, and type of place of residence so that this mean was different according to gender (among boys), according to type of field of study (among conservatory students), and according to the type of place of residence (among students). This situation was more intense in the city.The dimensions of this variable were also investigated to clarify the difference in the average level of tendency towards risky behavior between high school and conservatory students, in the self-injurious dimension of whom with the average values of 3.01 and 3.37 were obtained, respectively. In addition, in their other-injurious dimension, there were found the average values of 2.47 and 2.98, respectively.By entering 7 independent variables in the regression model of this research, about 0.64% of risky behavior could be explained by the mentioned factors. Among the independent variables, gender and economic capital had the most influences. Also, the variables of type of residence, cultural capital, social capital, type of education, and symbolic capital had an effect in explaining the dependent variable, respectively.Finally, the data accuracy and its compliance with the research model were confirmed via structural equation modeling.

In recent years, mobbing has emerged as a significant global problem in workplaces, leading to negative organizational behaviors (Alfano et al., 2021). This phenomenon poses challenges to productivity, competitive advantage, and organizational sustainability (Kurnaz & Oğuzhan, 2021). Mobbing refers to a situation where certain members of an organization are targeted, harassed, rejected, and socially isolated, resulting in a detrimental impact on the performance of the individuals affected (Balducci et al., 2009). Consequently, mobbing can have unfortunate consequences within the organization, disrupting harmony of the work environment and diminishing employee’s motivation (Psunder, 2015). Therefore, it is crucial to thoroughly study mobbing, identify its causes and consequences, and effectively manage it (Mehmet, 2021). However, the existing research in this field has only focused on specific aspects of the issue, lacking a comprehensive and cohesive framework for understanding the causes and consequences of mobbing. Consequently, there is a gap in the literature that needs to be addressed. To address this gap and facilitate the management and mitigation of the destructive effects of mobbing, this study aimed to design a comprehensive model to encompass the causes and consequences of mobbing within organizations. By doing so, we aimed to contribute to the existing literature and provide valuable insights into this phenomenon.

This study employed a qualitative approach and utilized the meta-synthesis method to systematically review and integrate the findings of various research studies with the aim of reshaping the existing knowledge (Jensen & Allen, 1996) and proposing new frameworks (Paterson et al., 2001). The seven stages of meta-synthesis, as presented by Sandelowski & Barroso (2007), were followed to analyze and combine the results of previous research studies. In the initial stage, research questions were formulated and in the 2nd stage, a comprehensive literature review was conducted. Relevant keywords were searched in both Persian and English databases to identify the necessary sources in the 3rd stage. Subsequently, the identified sources were evaluated based on their title, abstract, and content, resulting in the selection of 49 sources for inclusion in this research. In the 4th stage, the selected sources were thoroughly examined and the causes and consequences of mobbing in organizations were extracted as primary codes. In the 5th stage, the identified codes were carefully reviewed, duplicate codes were eliminated, and efforts were made to categorize the codes into specific and distinct components based on their semantic and conceptual similarities. Next, the components were classified into dimensions to create a model representing the causes and consequences of mobbing in organizations. To ensure the research reliability, the Kappa index was utilized for evaluating the agreement between researchers in the coding process.

The findings of this study revealed that the causes of mobbing in organizations could be categorized into the three individual, group, and organizational dimensions. The individual dimension encompassed 3 components: the victim’s characteristics, the mobber’s characteristics, and interpersonal factors. The group dimension included in-group and out-group factors, while the organizational dimension comprised job-related and non-job-related factors. Although previous studies had touched upon these dimensions, none of them had comprehensively addressed all the three dimensions in a single study. For instance, Demiroren & Simsek (2021) focused solely on the individual level, neglecting the other dimensions. Similarly, Picakciefe et al. (2017) only examined the characteristics of the immediate environment. On the other hand, Demiroren & Simsek (2021) explored organizational causes but failed to consider other aspects. Furthermore, the results indicated that the consequences of mobbing could be analyzed across the four individual, group, organizational, and extra-organizational dimensions. The individual dimension encompassed attitudinal-perceptual, physiological, and behavioral-functional components. The group dimension included in-group and out-group consequences, while the organizational dimension comprised cultural components and managerial-executive consequences. Lastly, the extra-organizational dimension encompassed family and social consequences. Although previous researchers had examined the consequences of mobbing, no studies had comprehensively addressed all these dimensions together. For example, İnandi & Büyüközkan (2022) and Kurnaz & Oğuzhan (2021) focused primarily on individual consequences, while Dagli & Arslantas (2022) emphasized group and organizational levels. Notably, the extra-organizational consequences had received limited attention in the literature with only a few studies (Plos et al., 2022; Yildiz, 2007) exploring this aspect of analysis.