Replications Further Examining Workplace Incivility Perceptions based on Personality Characteristics

Abstract

This paper aimed to replicate the findings from Sliter, Withrow, and Jex (2015) examining the influence of personality characteristics on how individuals perceive uncivil behaviors in the workplace. The original study found that trait anger, and unexpectedly positive affect, were the strongest predictors or perceived workplace incivility. In addition, it failed to support the hypothesized relationships between perceived incivility and agreeableness, emotional stability and negative affect. To assess success of replication, we used four different criteria (prediction intervals, original study confidence interval, replication confidence intervals, and significance testing) in an independent literal replication (student sample) and an independent constructive replication with a sample of employed participants. In both replications, positive affect and trait anger were the strongest predictors of perceived workplace and replicated across the four success criteria. The constructive replication found different effect sizes of negative affect, agreeableness, and emotional stability, providing some support for the original hypotheses that were not supported in the original study. Finally, the findings related to openness, conscientiousness and extraversion were inconsistent across studies. Taken together these replications suggest the need to continue exploring the role of personality traits in incivility perceptions with constructive replications that provide methodological improvements beyond improving the sampling.