How can age-related coping strategies reduce supervisor incivility’s negative effect on commitment?

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the emotional mechanism linking supervisor incivility to reduced affective commitment. According to Affective Events Theory, it was predicted that, first, supervisor incivility impacts employees’ affective commitment negatively through engendering negative affect. Second, drawing on socioemotional selectivity theory, it was hypothesized that the negative impact of negative affect on commitment is weaker when employees are older. Additionally, it was proposed that the moderating impact of age is mediated through two coping strategies of reappraisal and distraction in a way that older employees, relative to young employees, would demonstrate an increased tendency for distraction over reappraisal in the face of negative affect caused by incivility. The sample comprised 297 employees (75.1%female) aged from19 to 55 in diverse businesses. The results revealed that high supervisor incivility was significantly associated with higher levels of negative affect and less employee commitment. In this regard, more committed employees felt more negative affect when they faced supervisor incivility. Confirming the moderating role of age, this research also showed that the older the employees are, the more reappraisal (not distraction) is used. Additionally, up to an age, more commitment causes more negative affect while being exposed to incivility; however, from an age onward, more negativity harms commitment. These results have implications for managers and future researchers.