Workplace Gaslighting: Implications for Employees’ Mental Health and Work Life in Greece
<b>Background/Objectives</b>: The present study seeks to address an important empirical gap by examining the associations of workplace gaslighting with symptoms of anxiety and depression, quiet quitting, and work engagement among a sample of Greek employees. <b>Methods</b>: An online cross-sectional study was conducted in Greece in December 2024, with 291 employees, aged 18 years or older, who reported at least one year of work experience. The validated Greek versions of already published tools were used to measure workplace gaslighting (GWS), anxiety and depression (PHQ-4), quiet quitting (QQS) and work Engagement (UWES-3). Associations between gaslighting and mental health and occupational outcomes were tested using multivariable linear regression, adjusting for demographic and occupational covariates. <b>Results</b>: Higher workplace gaslighting scores were significantly predictive of anxiety (b = 0.565, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and depression (b = 0.571, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Gaslighting was also a significant predictor of both quiet quitting (b = 0.368, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and work engagement (b = -0.373, <i>p</i> < 0.001). <b>Conclusions</b>: These results highlight the negative consequences of gaslighting on the mental health and work engagement of employees. Employees should be encouraged to report instances of supervisory gaslighting, while senior leadership and organizational governance structures ought to implement and enforce a zero-tolerance policy toward such behaviors.
Authors
- Olympia Konstantakopoulou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7241-6860)
- Petros Galanis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1308-5782)
- Aristotelis Koinis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9413-6456)
- Ioannis Moisoglou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6003-0733)
- Georgios Marios Kyriakatis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7489-1964)
- Polyxeni Μangoulia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5753-1273)
- Aglaia Katsiroumpa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0920-6940)
- Maria Tsiachri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8400-817X)
Institutions
- University of Thessaly (GR)
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Healthcare
- Published
- 2025-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13243255
- Primary Topic
- Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens