Nabastos: definitions and incidents in the corporate workplace

Abstract

While part of everyday discourse, a cursory exploration on the word nabastos reveals a significant paucity in existing efforts to discuss and define the concept. Nabastos has not been officially defined in the country's authoritative lexical references, and academic interest on the topic has proven negligible. Its interpretation in the urban and organizational theatre is virtually unexplored. This study then sought to conceptualize nabastos based on the actual experiences of ten Filipino respondents coming from selected corporate organizations. Following a qualitative research design, data was collected using semi-structured interviews in informal Tagalog.The definition, dimensions, boundaries and process of nabastos were determined and established from emergent categories analyzed through thematic analysis and conceptual clustering. Nabastos is defined by the respondents as a violation of either what is appropriate in the interaction or of what is expected in a situation, which is perceived as an affront either to one's respeto sa pagkatao or to one's respeto sa trabaho. Nabastos could be experienced through its dimensions Sinabi (Content) and Pagkasabi (Form). Further analysis showed the three types of nabastos of varying intensity emerged: Nabastos sa Sinabi, Nabastos sa Pagkasabi and Nabastos sa Sinabi at Pagkasabi. Actions acceptable in form and in content are considered as the external boundary area of Hindi Nabastos. The process of nabastos covers both the internal and situational aspects of the experience of nabastos. The experience of nabastos is shown to be marked by a dichotomy between the actual actions and events wherein nabastos occurred, compared to the preferred events by the respondent. The respondents' responses to their experience of nabastos - considered by the respondents either as Pinalampas or Hindi Pinalampas - are marked by a similar divergence between the courses of action taken during the incident vis-a-vis their alternative responses. It was observed that the effects of the experience of nabastos are less manifested in the professional relationships between the respondents and the offending individuals, as compared to the potent damages the experience of nabastos may bring to the personal relationships between the offended and the offender.