Understanding Workplace Gaslighting: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

In this episode of PsyberSpace, host Leslie Poston explores the psychological concept of gaslighting, with a focus on its manifestation in the workplace. Leslie digs into how workplace gaslighting mirrors interpersonal abuse, creating a toxic environment where employees doubt their reality. Examples include management minimizing concerns, contradicting realities, and fostering toxic positivity. The episode also discusses the impact on mental health, job satisfaction, and organizational effectiveness. Leslie offers strategies for identifying, documenting, and resisting gaslighting, as well as advice for leaders to create a supportive and transparent work environment.

00:00 Introduction to Workplace Gaslighting
01:23 Origins and Mechanisms of Gaslighting
03:07 Gaslighting in Organizational Settings
03:30 Research and Patterns of Workplace Gaslighting
08:47 Psychological Impact on Employees
13:55 Gaslighting in Layoffs and Corporate Communication
18:45 Why Employees Stay in Toxic Workplaces
23:54 Strategies to Combat Workplace Gaslighting
27:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Research
(note: more research can be found in our Season 1 episode on Gaslighting in personal relationships, as well)

Collinson, D. (1994). Strategies of resistance: Power, knowledge and subjectivity in the workplace. In J. M. Jermier, D. Knights, & W. R. Nord (Eds.), Resistance and power in organizations (pp. 25–68). Taylor & Frances/Routledge.
D'Cruz, P., & Noronha, E. (2011). The limits of emotional workplace friendship: Managerialist HRM bystander behaviour in the context of workplace bullying. Employee Relations. 33(3):269-288

Dickson, P., Ireland, J. L., & Birch, P. (2023). Gaslighting and its application to interpersonal violence. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 9(1), 31-46. 

Dorpat, T. L. (1996). Gaslighting, the double whammy, interrogation, and other methods of covert control in psychotherapy and analysis. Jason Aronson.

Edmondson, A. C., & Lei, Z. (2014). Psychological safety: The history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 23–43. 

El-Sayed, A. A. I., et al. (2025). Navigating toxicity: Investigating the interplay between workplace gaslighting, workaholism, and agility among nurses. Nursing Inquiry. 

Gabriel, Y. (2012). Organizations in a state of darkness: towards a theory of organizational miasma. Organization Studies, 33(9), 1137-1152. 

Graves, C. G., & Samp, J. A. (2021). The power to gaslight. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(11), 3378-3386.

Hogh, A., Hoel, H., & Carneiro, I. G. (2011). Bullying and employee turnover among healthcare workers: A three-wave prospective study. Journal of Nursing Management, 19(6), 742–751. 

Kukreja, P., & Pandey, J. (2023). Workplace gaslighting: Conceptualization, development, and validation of a scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. 

Leunissen, J. M., Sedikides, C., Wildschut, T., & Cohen, T. R. (2016). Organizational nostalgia lowers turnover intentions by increasing work meaning: The moderating role of burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. 

Leunissen, J. M., van Dijke, M., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C. (2023). Organizational nostalgia: The construct, the scale and its implications for organizational functioning. British Journal of Management. 

Sebring, J. (2021). Towards a sociological understanding of medical gaslighting in Western health care. Sociology of Health & Illness, 43(9), 1951–1964

Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. Freeman.

Sweet, P. L. (2019). The sociology of gaslighting. American Sociological Review, 84(5), 851–875.