Cold Looks and Hot Tempers: Individual-Level Effects of Incivility in the Workplace

• Main Author: Taylor, Shannon G.
• Other Authors: Bedeian, Arthur G.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: LSU 2010
• Subjects: Management (Business Administration)
• Online Access: http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-03022010-163447/

The deleterious effects of workplace incivility have been widely decried by practitioners and the popular press, but empirical evidence in this regard has only recently begun to accrue in the academic literature. As such, the present study examines the empirical validity of theoretically relevant attitudinal, health-related, and performance outcomes affected by workplace incivility. Hypotheses were tested with data obtained from individuals employed in a diverse range of for-profit and not-for-profit industries, organizations, and occupations and their supervisors. Results demonstrate that experiences of workplace incivility adversely affect employee attitudes and well-being; that workplace incivility experiences may indirectly affect feelings of burnout and employee engagement levels through their influence on employee perceptions of trust and justice; and that employee responses to incivility differ depending on the source (i.e., supervisor or co-worker incivility). These findings broaden the focus of prior research by illustrating that the effects of workplace incivility experiences are more nuanced than previously believed.