Abstract
Much of the supervision incivility research has focused on the supervisor-subordinate dyad when examining the effects of supervision incivility on employee outcomes. Our study examines a trickle-down effect of supervision incivility across three hierarchical levels, i.e., from the department leader (middle manager), through group leader (supervisor), and to group members (employees), and how it affects group psychological safety. Drawing on a sample of 346 employees and 78 group leaders in 78 work groups, our research found a negative relationship between department leader incivility and group psychological safety, and that this negative relationship was mediated by group leader incivility and moderated by group leader attribution for performance-promotion or injury-initiation motives. We further discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Highlights
Supervision incivility is defined as supervisor’s low intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the subordinate, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect [1]
To specify our exploration of the trickle-down effect of uncivil leadership behavior, we examine whether the impact of department leader incivility on group psychological safety is mediated by group leader incivility
The indirectly negative effect of department leader incivility on group psychological safety via group leader incivility is moderated by attribution for performance-promotion motive, such that the indirect effect will be strengthened for group leaders with high attribution for performance-promotion motive
Summary
Supervision incivility is defined as supervisor’s low intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the subordinate, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect [1]. - employees’ perceptions of the extent to which their supervisors engage in sustained hostile verbal and non-verbal behaviors, excluding physical contact [14] Another type of trickle-down effect of dark leadership is supervision incivility, which is lower in intensity than abusive supervision but involves rude or disrespectful behaviors by the supervisors with vague intention to harm their employees [1]. To specify our exploration of the trickle-down effect of uncivil leadership behavior, we examine whether the impact of department leader incivility on group psychological safety is mediated by group leader incivility. We expand the existing research thoughts on the trickle-down effect of dark leadership behavior by introducing the motive attribution variable as the boundary condition to further clarify its impact on group psychological safety [25]
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