{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T14:14:38Z","timestamp":1785420878757,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779321600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003196","name":"Ministry of Health, Italy","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003196","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00789fa95","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Workplace victimization is a form of repeated and systematic psychological violence that can severely affect both mental and physical health. From a psychological perspective, it impacts mood states, defense mechanisms, and personality functioning. Methods: This cross-sectional study investigated the psychological and behavioural correlates of workplace victimization in a sample of 33 workers from various professional sectors, using a multidimensional assessment including standardized measures of personality traits, mood states, and defense mechanisms. Results: The MMPI-2 profile revealed elevated scores in Hypochondriasis (Hs: 72.00), Depression (D: 70.21), Hysteria (Hy: 67.61), and Paranoia (Pa: 68.76), indicating somatic symptoms, depressive features, and suspiciousness. The POMS showed increased Tension\u2013Anxiety (T: 65.06), Depression\u2013Dejection (D: 68.21), Anger\u2013Hostility (A: 68.15), and Fatigue\u2013Inertia (F: 65.24), alongside reduced Vigor\u2013Activity (V: 43.18). The DMI analysis highlighted a high Reversal score (REV: 65.91), suggesting a predominant use of defense mechanisms such as altruism and idealization to cope with distress. Conclusions: In this selected sample of adults referred for psychological evaluation for suspected or documented workplace victimization, participants showed a clinically relevant psychological burden, including depressive symptoms, somatic concerns, Anger\u2013Hostility, fatigue, reduced vigor, and specific defensive patterns. Given the cross-sectional design, small sample size, and absence of a control group, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary and cannot establish causality or the specificity of this profile to workplace victimization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci16050544","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T15:02:27Z","timestamp":1779375747000},"page":"544","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Psychological and Behavioural Correlates of Workplace Victimization"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6229-6463","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amelia","family":"Rizzo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Legal Centre of Messina, National Institute of Social Welfare, 98122 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0757-2389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Grazia","family":"Maggio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino-Pulejo, S.S. 113 Via Palermo, C. da Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6872-7931","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martina","family":"Barbera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cognitive Sciences, Pedagogical Psychological and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Bruno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cognitive Sciences, Pedagogical Psychological and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gabriele","family":"Giorgi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universit\u00e0 Europea di Roma, Via Degli Aldobrandeschi 190, 00163 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luca","family":"Di Giampaolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Innovative Technologies in Medicine & Dentistry, University \u201cG. d\u2019Annunzio\u201d of Chieti\u2013Pescara, Via dei Vestini, Campus Universitario, 66100 Chieti, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1089-1380","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Murat","family":"Yildirim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Letters, A\u011fr\u0131 \u0130brahim \u00c7e\u00e7en University, F\u0131rat Mahallesi Yeni \u00dcniversite Caddesi No: 2 AE\/1, Merkez, A\u011fr\u0131 04100, T\u00fcrkiye"},{"name":"Psychology Research Center, Khazar University, 11 Mahsati Ganjavi Rd, Baku 1096, Azerbaijan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0973-5455","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lucasz","family":"Szarpak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Medical Science, Collegium Medicum, The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, 20-708 Lublin, Poland"},{"name":"Research Unit, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Bialystok Oncology Center, 15-027 Bialystok, Poland"},{"name":"Henry J.N. Taub Department of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Ferrari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Italian Society of Integrated Psychotherapy for Social Development, 20129 Milan, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-0491-2018","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raffaela","family":"Maione","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino-Pulejo, S.S. 113 Via Palermo, C. da Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8566-3166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rocco Salvatore","family":"Calabr\u00f2","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Centro Neurolesi Bonino-Pulejo, S.S. 113 Via Palermo, C. da Casazza, 98124 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Francesco","family":"Chirico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Post-Graduate School of Occupational Health, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Agostino Gemelli 8, 00168 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Centro Sanitario Polifunzionale, Health Service Department, Italian State Police, Ministry of the Interior, 00184 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"165","DOI":"10.1080\/13594329608414853","article-title":"The content and development of workplace victimization at work","volume":"5","author":"Leymann","year":"1996","journal-title":"Eur. 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