Relationships at Work: Incivility, Interpersonal Citizenship, Emotion, and Gender in Organizations.

Abstract

Social interactions in organizations have the potential to generate energy and flourishing; on the other side of the spectrum, they can be a source of anguish and dysfunction. My dissertation acknowledges relationships on both sides of the continuum by examining workplace experiences of incivility and interpersonal citizenship, from the recipient's perspective. We know from past research that incivility has a variety of negative consequences for the targeted individual; what is less clear is how incivility links to individual well-being. I test the mediating role of emotion in this process. My project also adds to the nascent literature on interpersonal citizenship in the workplace, identifying specific emotional pathways to outcomes. Additionally, I examine for whom incivility and citizenship matter the most, investigating both organizational commitment and gender as potential moderators of emotional response. My dissertation proposes four comprehensive models through which incivility and citizenship experiences link to outcomes. Using structural equation and regression analysis, I find evidence of moderated mediation in two samples: working women in Michigan (N = 419) and working adults from across the U.S. (N = 479). My results make multiple unique contributions to the literature. First, all four studies reveal that emotion comes into play following subtle, often overlooked social experiences. These emotional reactions then have important linkages to both individual and organizational well-being. Second, consideration of the role and importance of discrete emotions is key in understanding how interpersonal experience relate to outcomes. Scholars and practitioners should continue to examine a range of discrete emotions in response to encountering incivility and interpersonal citizenship behavior, feelings of guilt in particular. Third, my results underscore the gravity of incivility, showing that the most valued employees (those with high commitment) may experience the worst outcomes. However, it seems men and women respond with similar emotions to incivility or citizenship experiences. Lastly, I find receipt of interpersonal citizenship behavior to have very real consequences on the job. Whereas most research focuses on the enactment of citizenship, we should turn our eye to its recipients as a way to further understand how to promote employee well-being.