Patterns and profiles of response to incivility in the workplace.

Full Abstract

The authors draw on stress and coping theory to understand patterns of individual response to workplace incivility. According to data from 3 employee samples, incivility tended to trigger mildly negative appraisals, which could theoretically differentiate incivility from other categories of antisocial work behavior. Employees experiencing frequent and varied incivility from powerful instigators generally appraised their uncivil encounters more negatively. They responded to this stressor using a multifaceted array of coping strategies, which entailed support seeking, detachment, minimization, prosocial conflict avoidance, and assertive conflict avoidance. These coping reactions depended on the target's appraisal of the situation, the situation's duration, and the organizational position and power of both target and instigator. Implications for organizational science and practice are discussed. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

Author information

Author/s: Cortina, Lilia M (LM); Magley, Vicki J (VJ);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, USA. lilia(-atsign-)umich.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Journal of occupational health psychology (J Occup Health Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Jul; vol 14 (issue 3) : pp 272-88

Dates: Created 2009/07/09; Completed 2009/09/25;

PMID: 19586222, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 9/25/2009, IMS Date: )

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