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This research investigated the conditions under which exposure to incivility at work was associated with engaging in counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Drawing from stressor-strain and coping frameworks, we predicted that experienced incivility would be associated with engaging in production deviance and withdrawal behavior, and that these relationships would be strongest for employees who had high levels of job involvement and worked under task interdependent conditions. Gender differences in these effects were also investigated. A sample of 250 United States full-time employees from various occupations completed 2 waves (timed 6 weeks apart) of an online survey. Results indicate that employees with high job involvement were more likely to engage in production deviance and withdrawal behavior following exposure to incivility than were employees with low job involvement. The moderating effect of task interdependence varied by gender, such that the relationship between incivility and CWB was strengthened under high task interdependence for female employees, but weakened under high task interdependence for male employees. These findings highlight that certain work conditions can increase employees' susceptibility to the impacts of incivility, leading to harmful outcomes for organizations. (PsycINFO Database Record

Workplace incivility is a subtle type of deviant work behavior that is low in intensity and violates workplace norms of respect. Past research demonstrates the harmful impact of incivility on work attitudes and employee wellbeing; however, little is known about how incivility is experienced by individuals of different ethnicities and cultural orientations. In the current study, we compared the amount and impact of workplace incivility that was experienced by Hispanic and white, non-Hispanic employees. Further, we examined whether cultural dimensions of vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism moderated the relationships between workplace incivility and work and health outcomes. A sample of 262 university employees (50% Hispanic; 63% female) provided self-reports of experienced incivility, burnout, job satisfaction, and cultural values. Although male Hispanic employees experienced more incivility, female Hispanic employees experienced less incivility than non-Hispanic employees of the same gender. Hispanic employees displayed greater resilience against the impact of incivility on job satisfaction and burnout, compared with non-Hispanic employees. Additionally, employees with strong horizontal collectivism values (emphasizing sociability) were more resilient against the impact of incivility on burnout, whereas employees with strong horizontal individualism values (emphasizing self-reliance) were more susceptible to burnout and dissatisfaction when faced with incivility. These findings suggest that employees' ethnicity and cultural values may increase or decrease their vulnerability to the impact of incivility at work.

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This research investigates the elicitors and behavioral responses associated with feeling guilt and shame in response to observed workplace incivility. We draw from the appraisal model of self-conscious emotions to hypothesize that perceiving personal responsibility for acts of incivility conducted by others in the organization is associated with feelings of guilt and shame, and that these relationships are differentially moderated by perceived controllability over the incident. We further propose that shame is associated with avoidance and withdrawal behaviors, whereas guilt is associated with retaliatory and supportive behaviors in response to the observed incivility. We tested these hypotheses with a sample of 309 full-time working adults who completed an online survey through Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform. Our results support the claim that perceived responsibility is associated with feeling shame and guilt for observed incivility. The relationship between perceived responsibility and guilt was stronger when respondents perceived greater control over the incident; however, controllability did not moderate between responsibility and shame. As expected, shame was associated with avoiding the target and instigator and withdrawing from work, while guilt was associated with both retaliation toward the instigator and supporting the target.