The role of emotion in workplace incivility

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) as moderators of the relationship between psychological contract violation and workplace incivility.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was administered to employed adults.

Findings

The association between violation and incivility was more pronounced when levels of LMX and POS were higher.

Research limitations/implications

The correlation design limits the ability to draw causal inferences. Affect models, including but not limited to affect infusion model (AIM), offer a useful framework for enhancing understanding of incivility and other forms of counterproductive work behaviors.

Practical implications

The study has contributed to knowledge about contract violation’s implications for work behaviors, such as incivility. Managers sensitive to the dynamics of contract breach may prevent feelings of violation by communicating clearly and often about expectations, resources, and procedures.

Social implications

Organizational and societal leaders may be well served by knowledge about preventing people’s intense responses to perceived violation by appropriately responding to perceived breach.

Originality/value

The study draws upon AIM as a novel approach to understanding conditions under which negative emotions are most likely to relate to workplace incivility. Moreover, the roles of social exchange variables LMX and POS have heretofore been unexplored as moderators of the violation-incivility relationship.

Citation

Sears, K. and Humiston, G.S. (2015), "The role of emotion in workplace incivility", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 390-405. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-11-2012-0373