The study by academics at Anglia Ruskin University found that 35.2% of gay/bisexual men who had experienced frequent school-age bullying also experience frequent workplace bullying.
Among lesbian women, the figure was 29%.
Researchers quizzed 400 people about their experience at school, and also asked them about bullying at their current workplace.
When describing their experiences at school, 73% of gay men said they were either constantly, frequently or sometimes bullied.
Just 9.9% said they were never bullied. Among lesbian women, 59% experienced constant, frequent, or occasional bullying.
The research also examined job satisfaction.
Most gay men said they were “dissatisfied” with their job (56%), while this was also the most common answer for lesbian women (47%).
The study’s patterns are in line with a 2018 Government Equalities Office survey finding that at least 40% of LGBT respondents had experienced a verbal harassment or physical violence between 2016 and 2017.
“This study suggests that bullying may be a chronic problem for LGB individuals, which continues from school to the workplace,” said report author, Dr Nick Drydakis.
“This could be for a number of reasons – school-age bullying could be more likely to lead to low self-esteem, a difficulty in forming trusting relationships, or a greater risk of poor mental health. Factors like these may make it more likely they will experience bullying in the workplace later in life,” added Dr Drydakis.
“Post school-age bullying victims might exhibit characteristics of vulnerability, such as sub-assertive behaviours, which make them attractive targets for unfavourable treatments and evaluations from colleagues and employers in the workplace.
“In turn, individuals, firms and society as a whole face long-lasting negative effects which appear to begin in the playground,” said the author.
“There is also a negative association between bullying of LGB individuals, and job satisfaction. Interestingly, we found that the existence of a workplace group for LGB individuals appeared to result in better job satisfaction, perhaps a lesson for employers wanting a more satisfied and motivated workforce.”
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Any other perceived deficits or hidden disabilities also follow every child into adulthood and made subject of “approval deprivation” at one end of the scale to “outright in your face and, on occasion deliberately in public”, anti-social behaviours so, little wonder too many in fear of disclosure due to on-going life experience of being undermined vertically or even horizontally by their peers. This is born out in the Civil Service where it is assumed rather than known that 10% or 43,000 employees will statistically be on the Dyslexia spectrum whether diagnosed formally or not and then statistically 58% (HSE Better… Read more »