ABSTRACT
Research into workplace bullying is new to the arts, and alongside the quantitative evidence there are interesting insights to be gained from the anecdotal evidence of theatrical and literary storytellers. Bullying is a function, albeit a negative one, of how people act on and influence one another. An extension of role theory, impression management is both a theory and process: the theory argues that people are constantly engaged in controlling how others perceive them; the process refers to the conscious, or unconscious, effort to influence the perceptions of other people to achieve a goal. None of the arts workers in the pilot study thought that management had dealt satisfactorily with complaints about bullying. Despite having significant line management responsibilities, managers had received little education or training in human resources issues. Self-presentation is the process of trying to influence the perception of a personal image and it is interesting that bullies are accused of manipulating others perceptions of them.
