Abstract
In three studies we found that incivility spreads from perpetrators through victims to uninvolved third parties. Study 1 showed that when elementary school teachers were uncivil, teachers in the school tended to also be uncivil, and as a result the students exhibited violent behavior. Study 2 replicates these results by showing that negotiating with an uncivil partner affected individuals’ behaviors in subsequent negotiations. Specifically, those who negotiate with an uncivil partner in a previous negotiation tended to behave more rudely towards the partner in a subsequent negotiation and these behaviors had negative effects on the next partner’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviors. Study 3 replicated these result in a laboratory setting in which incivility was experimentally manipulated. The results also showed that the ambiguity of the third party behavior moderated the relationship between perpetrator incivility and victims behavior towards the third party. Overall the results show that individuals who experience incivility behave more rudely themselves in future interactions. Moreover, responses to incivility increase in severity ultimately resulting in consequences of far greater impact than the original incivility.
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