[Trait anxiety and type behavior pattern (A and B) as modifiers of immediate reaction towards violent behaviors].

BACKGROUND

Experience of violence at the work place leads to serious consequences for both an employee and the organization. That is why prevention programs are necessary to reduce the risk of violence at work as well as possible adverse consequences of violent acts that cannot be predicted and prevented. Some research studies suggest that the range and severity of individual consequences of experiencing violence at work depend on the personality of victims, including their typical reactions to violent acts. In this paper, such personal characteristics as trait-anxiety, type A/B behavior pattern (TABP/TBBP) are discussed as potential modifiers of individual reaction towards the violence experienced at work.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A sample of 1163 nurses, representative of the Mazovian Voivodship was surveyed. The standardized "paper and pencil" questionnaires were employed in the survey. The relationship between direct reaction to violence and trait-anxiety and TABP/TBBP was analyzed.

RESULTS

Tendency to express an aggressive reaction towards violent behavior of others was positively correlated with a high level of trait-anxiety and TABP and submissive reactions to violence with a high level of trait-anxiety and TBBP, whereas tendency to express assertive reaction when being attacked was related to a low level of trait-anxiety and TBBP.

CONCLUSIONS

Statistically significant relationship between trait-anxiety and behavior pattern was observed. A high level of anxiety is correlated with ineffective coping with violent acts as submissive and aggressive reaction. The tendency to express these two kinds of behavior when facing violence is strengthen by behavior pattern. The tendency to aggressive reactions as a response to aggression of others is stronger when a high level of trait-anxiety is accompanied by TABP. The tendency to present submissive reactions as a response to aggression of others is stronger when a high level of anxiety and TBBP characterize the individual who faces a violent act. These individual characteristics are thought to be rather stable and difficult to change, but they should be taken into account in the process of designing the violence prevention programs for the organization. We believe that in our attempts to reduce the extent of the problem we should provide information on the role of individual characteristics in the process of coping with violence and recommend to employ positive effects of the repeated assertiveness training in the violence prevention programs as a useful tool for teaching people how to behave in the face of aggressiveness of others.