Modern women bosses becoming bullies: Study

Women may have spent decades battling their way to the top in business, but their rapid success and increasing stress at the workplace are actually turning them into bullies, says a new study.

The survey by the British Association of Anger Management found that an increasing number of women in positions of power are bullying colleagues and employees.

While such behaviour is more commonly linked with male bosses, the survey found that a fifth of female bosses admit to shouting or being verbally abusive at work, a trend which has given rise to a new phenomenon called the nightmare female boss, the Daily Mail reported.

Ten per

cent of women executives admit to blaming and shaming colleagues when things go wrong. However, almost 90 per cent of those surveyed said they had experienced an increase in stress, with more than 60 per cent citing poor management as the reason for their anxiety.

Mike Fisher, the association's director, said high-flying women are now encountering the psychological problems that have historically blighted the lives of men at the top.

He said: "The main reason for an increase in anger is the inability to deal with stress. Women tend to pay more attention to detail than men so they sweat over the small things.

"They can be short-tempered and abrupt, and make underhanded critical remarks. It can be interpreted by colleagues as bullying."