Perceived workplace incivility and psychological well-being in higher education teachers: a multigroup analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of perceived workplace incivility (WPI) on psychological well-being (PWB) in teachers of higher education and to test for the moderating role of gender and organizational tenure on the relationship between perceived WPI and PWB.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from teachers (N = 341) employed in government and private colleges through convenience sampling. A structural equation modeling technique was used for model testing.FindingsResults showed a moderate level of perceived WPI by teachers from their colleagues or supervisors. Perceived WPI had a negative impact on PWB. Sixteen percent of the variance in PWB was explained by perceived WPI. Further, the multigroup analysis showed gender to moderate the relationship between perceived WPI and PWB, and this relationship was stronger for males than females. Organizational tenure was not a significant moderator.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings expand the literature on perceived WPI and suggest that stringent policies are essential in academia to minimize the incidence of WPI. Additionally, interventions are to be introduced to mitigate the negative outcomes of WPI both at the individual and organizational levels.Originality/valueThe study explores the role of demographic variables (gender and organizational tenure) in the relationship between perceived WPI and PWB in teachers. The empirical evidence suggests higher perceived WPI in male teachers leading to lower PWB. The organizational tenure of an employee shows no influence on the assessment of the stressor.

Social anxiety mediates workplace incivility and work engagement

“…Employees who experienced higher levels of WPI also had higher levels of social anxiety. The findings here were also congruent with other studies finding the negative impact of WPI on stress (Beattie and Griffin, 2014), depression (Adiyaman and Meier, 2022), lower subjective well-being (Sherrod and Lewallen, 2021), lower psychological well-being (Sood and Kour, 2022), rumination after work (Vahle-Hinz, 2019), and anxiety (Geldart et al, 2018).…”

“…Depression, higher levels of anger, and lowered self-esteem were associated with daily WPI in another 10-day longitudinal study of Swiss workers ( n = 164) from various professional backgrounds ( Adiyaman and Meier, 2022 ). WPI was also associated with lowered subjective well-being, increased headaches, sleep disturbances, and digestive problems in a cross-sectional study of nurses ( n = 290) in a south-eastern US state ( Sherrod and Lewallen, 2021 ) and for teachers ( n = 341) in both government and private colleges in Jammu (India; Sood and Kour, 2022 ).…”

Impact of despotic leadership and workplace incivility on innovative work behavior of employees: Application of mediation-moderation model

“…Incivility cause mental disorders among employees and psychological well-being of employees found decreasing in the presence of such events [ 61 ]. Workplace incivility is mental torture for employees and psychological capital cannot remain up to the mark or at satisfactory level in the presence of such events [ 62 , 63 ]. Thus, employees' well-being, mental health and emotions are highly dependent on the events of the workplace.…”

Building a caring workplace: how managerial caring and perceived insider status shape subjective employee well-being

“…Additionally, it is commonly used in well-being studies (e.g. Brown et al, 2022;Sood and Kour, 2023). Furthermore, the participants were reached through the professional networks of the authors conducting this study.…”