Workplace Incivility Research Articles

Introduction: Workplace incivility is a pervasive issue in healthcare, negatively impacting staff well-being, teamworking, cognitive load and patient safety [1]. Traditional training may not capture specific human factor or patient safety elements related to incivility. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an innovative, multidisciplinary simulation-based intervention designed to increase awareness of incivility and its impact on patient safety within the NICU. Methods: A prospective design was used in preparing and planning the scenario [2,3]. The simulation ran during a structured teaching session, with participants of various nursing and medical grades from the NICU. In total there were 4 participants with 3 confederates in the simulation and 21 observers. A learning conversation was guided by 4 experienced debriefers, 1 of whom was a confederate. The multidisciplinary team participated in a high-fidelity simulation depicting a patient handover with an array of embedded uncivil behaviours enacted by and towards pre-briefed confederates. Participants were briefed to receive handover but not briefed around the central theme of incivility. Their experience and response to witnessing incivility was the central driver for the learning conversation. Psychological safety was considered through confederate training and structured debriefing immediately post-simulation. Feedback was collected via direct observation during the simulation, analysis of debriefing, and anonymous post-simulation surveys assessing realism, learning and perceived changes in awareness and preparedness. Results: Observation confirmed realistic enactment of incivility and notable bystander passivity among participants. Post-event analysis demonstrated increased participant recognition of incivility, understanding of its link to communication breakdown and cognitive load, and crucially, a connection drawn between the simulated incivility and a patient safety. Survey data indicated high perceived realism and educational value, particularly for the debriefing. Participants reported significantly increased awareness of incivility and its impacts, alongside increased (though less pronounced) preparedness to address it. Discussion: The simulation effectively increased awareness of incivility and vividly demonstrated its potential patient safety consequences within a realistic NICU context. The link was made to potential patient care errors and impact on cognitive load, underscoring mechanisms by which incivility impacts care. Observed bystander passivity highlights potential cultural challenges requiring further attention, but the inherent difficulty associated with challenging incivility. The findings support immersive simulation as an effective educational strategy for this sensitive topic but emphasise the absolute necessity of psychological safety for participants and observers throughout design and implementation. This intervention provides a valuable model adaptable to other healthcare settings seeking to foster civility and improve safety. Ethics Statement: As the submitting author, I can confirm that all relevant ethical standards of research and dissemination have been met. Additionally, I can confirm that the necessary ethical approval has been obtained, where applicable.

ABSTRACT This study aims to examine boundary conditions that influence customers’ tolerance of employee incivility directed toward them. To do so, this study focuses on two cues of workplace incivility: the type of reprimand from managers to employees and the explanation from employees about the workplace incivility. Two scenario-based between-subject factorial experiments are conducted. The result shows that the effect of employee incivility on tipping behavior increases when a manager reprimands the employee for job-irrelevant problems via increased sympathy toward the employee. Also, the effect of employee incivility on revisit intention decreases when the employee explains the workplace incivility to the customers rather than not explaining about the workplace incivility via increased anger toward the manager. This research contributes to the incivility literature by considering both targets of incivility, the employee who is a target of workplace incivility and the customer who sequentially becomes a target of that employee’s incivility.

A Simultaneous Mixed-Methods Examination of Factors Influencing Intent-to-Leave Among Nursing Home Care Providers in 25 Long-Term Care Facilities.

The healthcare sector, the cornerstone of global well-being, faces critical challenges due to negative workforce dynamics, including burnout, workplace incivility, violence, and high turnover rates. These issues, exacerbated by resource constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic, undermine employee well-being and compromise the quality of care. This study employed the TCCM method to conduct a systematic review of 117 peer-reviewed articles, retrieved from the Scopus database, and following PRISMA guidelines, to understand the interplay among adverse workforce dynamics and workforce sustainability. By integrating the Job-Demand Resources Model and Conservation of Resources theory, this review identifies key mediators, such as burnout and resilience. It highlights the role of contextual factors, such as cultural and organizational influences, in shaping outcomes. Methodological trends reveal a reliance on cross-sectional designs, underlining the necessity for longitudinal and mixed-methods approaches to capture causality. This review proposes actionable interventions, including fostering moral resilience, perceived organizational support, and servant leadership, to mitigate negative dynamics and enhance sustainability. The findings provide strategic insights for policymakers and healthcare managers, emphasizing the importance of targeted interventions to build resilient and thriving teams. This work advances the discourse on workforce dynamics, bridging critical research gaps and guiding the global healthcare sector toward sustainable transformation.

Workplace Ostracism as An Antecedent of Workplace Incivility: Mediation of Negative Emotions and Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support

Call for Manuscripts: Special Issue of Issues in Mental Health Nursing on the Topic of: Workplace Bullying and Incivility in Nursing

The chain mediating effects of psychological resilience and organizational commitment on the association between workplace incivility and job withdrawal among Chinese oncology nurses: A cross-sectional study.

This research investigated the potential buffering effect of incivility at workplace amid organizational cronyism and job satisfaction in college teachers. Cross-sectional research design was employed and participants were recruited through non-probability, purposive sampling. It was hypothesized that organizational cronyism, workplace incivility, and job satisfaction might be significantly correlated with each other. Furthermore, organizational cronyism and workplace incivility are expected to be significant predictors of job satisfaction. A sample of 207 college teachers (Mage= 34.41, SDage= 8.04) was collected from seven different colleges. The Perceived Organizational Cronyism Scale (Turhan, 2014), Workplace Incivility Scale (Cortina et al., 2013), and Job Satisfaction Scale (Macdonald & Maclntyre, 1997) were utilized to assess study variables. SPSS 23 was used to analyzed data. The results showed that organizational cronyism and workplace incivility are significant predictors of job satisfaction, with a significant association between them. Workplace incivility also served as a moderator between in-group bias and job satisfaction and reciprocal exchange of favor and job satisfaction. The findings contribute valuable knowledge for organizational behavior within the Pakistani context. Interventions to reduce incivility, such as civility training programs, clear reporting mechanisms and leadership role modeling can help improve job satisfaction and overall organizational climate.

Understanding the impact of workplace ostracism on instigated workplace incivility with effects of narcissism and perceived organizational support

In Cameroon’s service industry, where sustainability is increasingly crucial, this study examines how workplace incivility and organizational support influence employees’ pro-environmental work behavior, applying the Conservation of Resources and Self-Determination Theories. A moderated mediation model was tested, with emotional exhaustion and mindfulness as mediators and psychological capital as a moderator. Data from 280 service industry employees were analyzed using SPSS 24 and SmartPLS 4. Workplace incivility reduces pro-environmental behavior through emotional exhaustion, but shows no significant link with mindfulness. Organizational support enhances pro-environmental behavior and reduces exhaustion, though it does not influence mindfulness. Psychological capital does not mitigate the negative impact of incivility on pro-environmental behavior and its positive impact on exhaustion. These results highlight the critical role of supportive workplaces in fostering sustainable behaviors and the buffering role of psychological capital. This study advances the theoretical understanding of employee behavior in service settings and offers practical insights for managers in banking and insurance to promote sustainability by reducing workplace incivility and enhancing support systems, particularly in emerging markets.

Workplace incivility (WPI) is a form of rude behavior involving a disregard for another individual that occurs in perioperative environments. Workplace incivility can cause burnout and negatively affect patient safety, job performance, professional productivity, and mental and physical health. The purpose of our study was to describe the essential structure of the lived experience of WPI among RN circulators in the southeastern United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifteen nurses were interviewed, and descriptive phenomenological methods were used to code the interview transcripts and determine themes and subthemes. The three themes were enduring incivility as an individualized test; COVID-19 as an accelerant for WPI; and addressing WPI through accountability, communication, and education. There is an urgent need to address WPI in the OR. Perioperative health care professionals can use these findings to enhance the overall health of their work environment and begin to foster a culture of civility.

Orientation: Counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) refers to employee actions that harm organisations or colleagues, such as absenteeism, frequent resignations, workplace conflicts and low job commitment. These behaviours negatively impact productivity and workplace harmony across various settings.Research purpose: This study examines the influence of workplace incivility on CWB, the role of job satisfaction in CWB and the mediating effect of job satisfaction. It also explores self-control as a moderating factor in the relationship between workplace incivility and CWB.Motivation for the study: Understanding these relationships helps organisations develop targeted strategies to mitigate CWB and foster a healthier and more productive work environment.Research approach/design and method: This study utilised structural equation modelling (SEM-PLS) to analyse data from 385 local employees in Karawang, Indonesia, using convenience sampling. PLS analysis was conducted using SmartPLS4 to evaluate both the measurement and structural models.Main findings: Workplace incivility significantly increases CWB, while job satisfaction negatively impacts CWB. However, workplace incivility does not affect job satisfaction, and job satisfaction does not mediate the incivility-CWB relationship, suggesting other influencing factors. Moderation analysis confirms that self-control does not weaken the effect of workplace incivility on CWB.Practical/managerial implications: Organisations should implement workplace policies promoting respect, clear communication and supportive leadership to reduce incivility and CWB. Future research should explore additional moderating factors, such as leadership styles and organisational culture.Contribution/value-add: This study enhances understanding of how workplace incivility influences CWB and how personality traits mitigate its impact, providing valuable insights for organisation strategies and workplace behaviour research.

Scholarly interest in the areas of innovation and harmful workplace behaviors has grown rapidly in recent years. Despite parallel growth in interest, research has largely failed to address the intersection of these phenomena. Moreover, although malevolent innovation is conceptually distinct in the fields of crime, terrorism, and extremism, there is limited clarity for how it differs from established workplace constructs (e.g., workplace incivility, counterproductive work behavior). In this review, we consider related workplace constructs and examine how they overlap with and, more centrally, differ from malevolent innovation. We distinguish deviance and other forms of norm-violating behaviors from the primary elements of malevolent innovation: novelty and intentional harm, as well as secondary elements: intensity, perpatrator-target relationship, and planning. Together, we provide a review to distinguish malevolent innovation as a unique workplace construct. Areas for future research are also discussed.

Purpose This conceptual article aims to explore the salience of a salesperson’s karma orientation – a form of workplace spirituality – and its effect on his/her deviant behaviours (e.g., workplace incivility and ostracism). It also explores the moderating influence of emotional labor and self-leadership. Design/methodology/approach This is anchored on the dual-process theory to delineate a framework of salesperson’s karma orientation and its impact on counterproductive work behaviors, through a series of research propositions. Findings The propositions highlight that high karma orientation among salespeople tends to reduce deviant behaviors (both workplace incivility and workplace ostracism), more so when salespeople exhibit higher emotional labor and higher self-leadership behaviors. Practical implications Sales organizations that employ internal or outsourced sales employees can leverage the individual’s karma orientation and its dimensions to mitigate the effects of counterproductive work behavior displayed by sales employees, either within sales teams, across teams or in the marketplace. Implementing self-leadership strategies will enhance the intrinsic motivation of sales staff and reduce the likelihood of engaging in deviant workplace activities. Emotional labor will enhance sales personnel’s awareness of their emotional expressions, and when combined with the theory of karma orientation, it will render their acts more purposeful. Originality/value The research contributes to the workplace spirituality literature by enhancing the extant knowledge on mitigating the effects of counterproductive work behaviors among salespersons (in the form of workplace incivility and ostracism).

Who Becomes a Target? Personality, Behavior, and Minority Status as Antecedents of Workplace Incivility

ABSTRACTQuiet quitting is a relatively new phenomenon that has quickly caught the attention of both practitioners and academics. With the world of work becoming increasingly interconnected, we contribute to the discourse by approaching quiet quitting from the novel perspective of understanding how others in the workplace perceive those who engage in quiet quitting. To do so, we first provide a formalized definition of quiet quitting and differentiate coworkers' perceptions of quiet quitting from similar psychological constructs (Studies 1–3). We then examine employee responses to coworkers engaging in quiet quitting with a qualitative study (Study 4) and vignette design (Study 5), finding that as an employee's perception of coworker quiet quitting increases, supportive behaviors decrease and workplace incivility behaviors towards the coworker increase. The effect on workplace incivility behaviors is moderated by self‐rated quiet quitting, such that employees who had higher self‐rated quiet quitting were more likely to engage in incivility towards a coworker regardless of whether their coworker was quiet quitting. Overall, by exploring quiet quitting observed by a coworker, we provide a different perspective on this construct and extend past research to show how employees feel about and react to a coworker's quiet quitting behaviors.

Workplace incivility can cause nurses to feel undervalued, which affects team dynamics and employee retention. While workplace incivility in nursing has been previously studied, the unique impact of COVID-19 on the nursing profession and current state of workplace incivility must be investigated. The objective of this study was to explore the incidence of incivility in the nursing workforce post-COVID-19 and to investigate the impact of leadership styles on the frequency of incivility. This study used a convergent mixed-method design. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and Workplace Incivility Survey were administered to acute care nurses during hospital civility training. Transformational leadership was the most prevalent leadership style. Over 37% of surveyed nurses considered civility a moderate-to-severe problem in the workplace. Incivility was negatively correlated with transformational leadership and positive leadership outcomes. Strategies must be implemented to help facilitate a more civil workplace. Close monitoring of nurse leadership characteristics enables organizations to support and offer education/training to nurse leaders, thereby influencing the incidence of incivility.

ABSTRACT This research investigates the interactions between leadership behaviors, workplace incivility, work engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors within Vietnamese museums. It also examines the role of workplace incivility and work engagement as mediators in the connection between leadership behaviors and organizational citizenship behaviors. The data were collected from 644 museum employees in Vietnam, and statistical analyses were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings provide partial support for the hypotheses, with two leadership behaviors having a significant impact on organizational citizenship behaviors, and work engagement mediating the relationship between relationship-oriented leadership behaviors and organizational citizenship behaviors. However, workplace incivility was not found to mediate the relationship between the variables. The study recommends that museums should adapt strategies to improve work engagement and create environments that encourage organizational citizenship behaviors among staff.

ABSTRACT The study investigates the impact of workplace incivility on the psychologically safe climate (PSC) and leadership succession within higher education (HE) institutions. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with academic leaders across four universities, it examines how incivility influences leadership pathways. The findings reveal that incivility significantly undermines PSC, which is essential for fostering trust and encouraging interpersonal risk-taking. Participants described incivility as a normalized aspect of academic culture, with digital communication serving as a key amplifier of uncivil interactions. Additionally, the study highlights the disproportionate impact of incivility on equity-seeking and early-career faculty. The erosion of PSC disrupted collaboration, undermined morale, and deterred faculty from pursuing leadership roles, thereby exacerbating existing challenges in the leadership pipeline. This study advances the understanding of how incivility and weakened PSC interact to impede leadership succession in HE. The findings underscore the critical need for institutions to adopt proactive measures, including clear behavioral guidelines, leadership training initiatives, and sustained efforts to cultivate PSC as a foundational element of academic governance. This research contributes to the growing scholarship on sustainable work environments, highlighting the urgent need for systemic interventions that support leadership pipelines, strengthen institutional resilience, and foster inclusive and adaptive academic cultures.

What is the Medical Student Experience of Incivilities on the Surgery Clerkship and Do They Matter?