Overlooked but not untouched: How rudeness reduces onlookers’ performance on routine and creative tasks

The Impact of Rudeness on Medical Team Performance: A Randomized Trial

“…However, psychologists have shown that the rudeness source fails to moderate its deleterious effects on performance. 20,21 Using a simulation-based experiment, we explored the impact of rudeness on the performance of NICU team members. Our hypothesis was that interrelating processes essential for collaboration are adversely affected when medical professionals are victims of others' rudeness, thus impairing members' diagnostic and procedural performance and heightening iatrogenic risk.…”

“…Such randomization procedures are common in social science research in general and incivility research in particular. 20,21 Randomization was stratified according to unit and hospital and was based on a sample size calculation of 10 to 11 teams per condition. Randomization was performed by a research assistant.…”

“…Analysis of variance with rudeness condition as the independent variable and perceived rudeness (assessed on the basis of a 4-item measure validated in previous research 20,21,25 and with a = .93) as the dependent variable indicated that participants rated the confederate as significantly (F [1,70] = 93.76, P , .01) more rude in the rudeness condition (3.24 6 1.14) than in the control condition (1.21 6 0.43). This finding confirmed that the rudeness manipulation was effective.…”

Subtle Discrimination in the Workplace: A Vicious Cycle

“…However, extant research has found that this confrontation does not always occur in workplace scenarios due to the ambiguity of subtly discriminatory comments (Jones, Peddie, et al, 2016) or hesitation to take on the responsibility of confronting a perpetrator (Ashburn-Nardo, Blanchar, Petersson, Morris, & Goodwin, 2014;Ashburn-Nardo, Morris, & Goodwin, 2008). Furthermore, in some instances, confrontation may even be discouraged due to the fact that bystanders do not wish to be victimized themselves (Porath & Erez, 2009). The larger problem associated with failing to confront discrimination is that it could potentially reinforce a workplace culture in which subtle discrimination is viewed as acceptable (Benokraitis, 1997).…”

Thriving Organizational Sustainability through Innovation: Incivility Climate and Teamwork

“…However, the effect of incivility is not limited to the targets. Research findings have also shown that treating others unfairly increased participants' own negative emotions and decreased their organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) [11], and observers of uncivil behaviors are also affected by these incidents [11,12]. These findings suggest that managing workplace incivility costs organizations time, energy, and money.…”