Political identity dissimilarity, workplace incivility, and declines in well‐being: A prospective investigation

an article by Yimin He, Paula L. Costa, Jessica M. Walker, Kathi N. Miner and R. Linden Wooderson (Texas A&M University, San Diego, California) published in Stress & Health Volume 35 Issue 3 (August 2019)

Abstract

The workplace is an environment where individuals have little choice about with whom they interact. As such, employees may find themselves engaged in conversations with coworkers whose political opinions and perspectives are divergent from their own.

In the present study, we examined how coworkers' (dis)similarity in political identity is related to the quality of their interpersonal interactions and subsequent well‐being. We predicted that political identity dissimilarity is associated with experiences of workplace incivility and, in turn, declines in psychological and occupational well‐being.

We tested our hypotheses in a four‐wave survey study conducted during the 2012 U.S. presidential election using structural equation modeling. Consistent with our expectations, results indicated that political identity dissimilarity was associated with increased reports of incivility experiences instigated by coworkers, which, in turn, was associated with increased burnout and turnover intentions and diminished job satisfaction.

The relationship between incivility and well‐being was mediated by psychological distress.

Overall, the findings demonstrate that political identity dissimilarity is detrimentally related to job attitudes and well‐being via triggering workplace incivility, which provides meaningful implications for organizations on how to mitigate the negative influences of identity dissimilarity.

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It’s not you, it’s me: the problem of incivility

a post by Amy Olberding for the OUP blog


 Photo by Amy Olberding, 2019. Used with permission. 

We regularly decry this or that latest episode of incivility, and can thereby find temporary satisfaction. Maybe we feel heartened to see the uncivil criticized, the critique itself a reassurance that incivilities still meet some resistance. Maybe we find relief in collective condemnation of the uncivil, solidarity in shared disapproval. Or maybe we just experience atavistic delight – if the uncivil offend our sense of good and right, it can feel good and right to see them publicly pilloried for it. But these satisfactions steer our thinking about civility away from a better target. The incivilities that ought to concern us first and most should be our own.

The early Confucians were passionate advocates for civility. Contemporary readers may receive this fact with dismay. It is likely to stimulate associations with finger-wagging scolds condemning others’ uncivil crimes and rude misbehavior. But Confucian advocacy is framed firmly in the first person: I should be civil. I should cultivate in myself the habits of emotion, mind, and conduct to make respectful and considerate engagement with others my steady norm. This is an approach to civility sorely missing from our popular discourse. Perhaps one reason for this is that my own failures of civility are so much less satisfying to consider than yours.

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Passive leadership and sexual harassment: Roles of observed hostility and workplace gender ratio

an article by Junghyun Lee (University of Michigan-Dearborn, USA) published in Personnel Review Volume 47 Issue 3 (2018)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether observed hostility mediates the link between passive leadership and sexual harassment. The study also investigates how workplace gender ratio might moderate this mediated relationship.

Design/methodology/approach
This study used online survey data by recruiting full-time working employees in various US organisations and industries.

Findings
Results suggest that when working under a passive leader, both men and women are more likely to experience sexual harassment. Furthermore, the positive association between hostility and sexual harassment is stronger for female employees who work in a male-dominated organisation (low gender ratio). However, the moderating effects of workplace gender ratio were not significant for male employees.

Practical implications
Organisations seeking to reduce or prevent sexual harassment should monitor and screen out managers who display passive leadership behaviour and create a work environment where collegial and civil interactions are encouraged and valued.

Originality/value
This research advances our knowledge regarding the organisational factors of sexual harassment by examining passive leadership, hostile work context, and workplace gender ratio. Theoretically, the study contributes to the sexual harassment literature by incorporating evidence on passive leadership from a broader field of workplace aggression into sexual harassment research. Practically, the study offers important implications for organisations that seek to minimise sexual harassment.

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Workplace bullying and incivility: a systematic review of interventions

an article by Margaret Hodgins, (National University of Ireland, Galway) and Sarah MacCurtain and Patricia Mannix-McNamara (University of Limerick, Ireland) published in International Journal of Workplace Health Management Volume 7 Issue 1 (2014)

Abstract

Purpose
Workplace mistreatment has a negative impact on the health and well-being of approximately 20 per cent of workers. Despite this, few interventions have been evaluated and published. The purpose of this paper is to address the question “what interventions designed to reduce workplace bullying or incivility are effective and what can be learnt from evaluated interventions for future practice?”

Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review was undertaken in which 11 electronic databases were searched, yielding 5,364 records. Following screening on abstract and title, 31 papers were retained for detailed review and quality assessment. Subsequently, 12 interventions to address workplace bullying or incivility were critically appraised.

Findings
The papers spanned a wide range of approaches to and assumptions about resolving the problem of bullying and/or incivility. Half the studies focused on changing individual behaviours or knowledge about bullying or incivility, and duration of intervention ranged from two hours to two years. Only four studies were controlled before-after studies. Only three studies were classed as “moderate” in terms of quality, two of which were effective and one of which was partially effective.

Originality/value
A final synthesis of results of the review indicate that multi-component, organisational level interventions appear to have a positive effect on levels of incivility, and should be considered as a basis for developing interventions to address workplace bullying.

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The ill-treatment of employees with disabilities in British workplaces

an article by Ralph Fevre, Amanda Robinson and Trevor Jones (Cardiff University, UK) and Duncan Lewis (Plymouth University, UK) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 27 Number 2 (April 2013)

Abstract

There are few quantitative studies that show the workplace is experienced in a different way by employees with disabilities.

This article fills this gap using data from the British Workplace Behaviour Survey, which found that employees with disabilities and long-term illnesses were more likely to suffer ill-treatment in the workplace and experienced a broader range of ill-treatment. Different types of disability were associated with different types of ill-treatment.

The survey also showed who employees with disabilities blamed for their ill-treatment and why they believed the ill-treatment had occurred.

Drawing on the existing literature, four possible explanations for ill-treatment are considered:

• negative affect raises perceptions of ill-treatment;
• ill-treatment leads to health effects;
• ill-treatment results from stigma or discrimination;
• ill-treatment is a consequence of workplace social relations.

Although some of these explanations are stronger than others, the discussion shows that more research is required in order to decide between them.

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