Workplace mistreatment results in higher rates of depression and sleep loss in Black employees than white employees according to research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Bloomington. While previous research has shown a link between workplace mistreatment and depression, it has been unclear whether all employees are affected the same way or whether workers from marginalized groups are more susceptible to its negative consequences. Kelley management professors Erik Gonzalez-Mulé and Ernest H.
O'Boyle and former doctoral student Ji Woon Ryu found that Black employees "are more likely to attribute experienced workplace mistreatment to racial prejudice and make a pessimistic attribution than whites." Their findings appear in the article, "Taking a Heavier Toll? Racial Differences in the Effects of Workplace Mistreatment on Depression," in the Journal of Applied Psychology. "Improving the health and well-being of employees has become an increasingly important concern for organizations," said Ryu, the corresponding author and an assistant professor of management at Portland State University who earned her doctorate from Kelley in 2022.
"For example, the monetary cost of some mental health problems, such as depression, can cost organizations billions of dollars via absenteeism and turnover." According to the World Health Organization, depression affects nearly 280 million people worldwide. For organizations, its economic burden accounts for more than $190 b.