Co-worker incivility and task performance: The mediating effect of psychological empowerment

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that workplace incivility (WI) is a serious issue that negatively affects employee performance (EP). This study investigated whether psychological empowerment (PE) mediated the link between employees’ task performance (TP) and co-worker incivility (CI). The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design, with a population of 307 employees of two ministries in Delta State, Nigeria. Using Yamane’s (1973) formula, 186 was determined as the sample size. After a week, 145 copies of the questionnaires were fully completed and retrieved. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that while CI was positive and significantly related to PE (β = 0.561, p < 0.05), it was negative and significantly related to TP (β = -0.422, p < 0.05). PE was positive and significantly related to TP (β = 0.133, p < 0.05). Moreover, a partial mediating role for PE was observed in the relationship between TP and CI. Based on these findings, it was recommended that the Delta State Civil Service Commission should put in place policies that will mitigate the occurrence of WI as it adversely affects EP. In addition, employees should be empowered psychologically to enable them to manage the detrimental effects of WI.