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PurposeThe present work investigates the micro-mechanisms underlying the link between psychological contract violation (PCV) and incivility in women employees. Building on social exchange theory (SET) and the norm of reciprocity, the authors utilized a multi-dimensional variable, labeled “Aggressive Reciprocal Attitude” (ARA), composed of three sub-constructs, namely anger, hostility and negative reciprocity, to explain negative women's uncivil behaviors. Further, the effect of conscientiousness is hypothesized to restrain the mechanism of ARA.Design/methodology/approachConfirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Covariance-based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) were used on a sample of 194 women from 4 different organizations to empirically validate the proposed conceptual model and test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsWomen's ARA is shown as a partial mediator of the relationship between PCV and incivility. Conscientiousness significantly moderates the link between ARA and incivility.Practical implicationsManagers should avoid stereotyping women as more compliant and submissive. Based on women's tendency to reciprocate negatively, this study’s findings suggest that reducing the negative reciprocity attitude is advisable by demonstrating that negative responses are an unsuccessful strategy and encouraging other forms of reaction.Originality/valueBy introducing the negative reciprocity attitude in the construction of the variable ARA, the authors overcome the contradiction between the social role theory, according to which women avoid unsociable behaviors, and studies demonstrating a remarkable presence of conflicts among women.

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PurposePervasive and rampant workplace incivility effects have called for more studies on antecedents and possible deterrents of the onset of negative organizational behaviors. Based on social exchange theory (SET), this study proposes a framework investigating the underlying mechanisms of team–member exchange (TMX) on instigated incivility.Design/methodology/approachThe hypothesized model explores the combined effect of interventions on teams and organizational levels. Indeed, the personal norm of negative reciprocity (PNR) and the psychological contract violation (PCV) are hypothesized as mediating variables of such a relationship. The model is empirically tested using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) on a sample of 330 employees of organizations with a team-based design. PNR and PCV resulted as a full mediating variable of the relationship between TMX and instigated incivility.FindingsFindings suggest that, by encouraging high-quality TMX, human resource (HR) managers could reduce employees’ willingness to instigate incivility toward colleagues other than team members. However, focusing only on TMX may be insufficient because of the role played by individual attitudes and organizational levers such as PNR and PCV.Originality/valueThe authors enrich current works on incivility by analyzing the role of positive sentiments in minimizing deviant behaviors. Further, the authors investigate negative organizational phenomena through a positive lens and contribute to building a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that might produce uncivil behaviors.

The present work aims to theoretically analyze the effect of reciprocity in the escalating process that could bring from a badly managed conflict to deviant behaviors in the workplace. More in detail, the analysis unpacks the micromechanisms that from a conflict could lead to the rise of interpersonal deviance up to organizational one. The paper adopts the interpretative framework of Social Exchange Theory to investigate the role of reciprocity in the escalating process of negative behaviors. By considering reciprocity as an individual orientation, it is interesting to note that people who have a strong tendency to reciprocate benefits may not have the same willingness to reciprocate harmful behaviors and vice versa. Applying this distinction in the analyses of conflicting and deviant behaviors leads to different conclusions about the role of reciprocity in organizational behaviors. The proposed conceptual model shows the role of positive reciprocity in mitigating the escalating process that brings from conflict to organizational deviance. This finding suggests exploiting employees’ positive reciprocity attitude to reduce the effects of negative phenomena inside the organization. Contrary to previous studies, which suggest avoiding reciprocity to reduce conflicting and deviant behaviors, the paper suggests a new theoretical lens to approach negative organizational phenomena.