A meta-analysis integrating 20 years of workplace incivility research: Antecedents, consequences, and boundary conditions

Abstract

In this study, we propose and examine an integrative framework to investigate factors contributing to the experience of workplace incivility (including victim demography, dispositional individual differences, and environmental factors); the affective, health-related, social exchange-based, and behavioral outcomes associated with experienced incivility; and boundary conditions for their relationships. To this end, we conduct a comprehensive meta-analysis on the antecedents and consequences of experienced workplace incivility based on 253 statistically independent samples from 219 primary studies and examine several moderators such as differences in time-related research design (cross-sectional vs. time-lagged), incivility instigator source, and occupation. Further, by integrating meta-analytic effect sizes from the current study with effect sizes from existing meta-analyses, we also investigate the extent to which the impact of experienced incivility on outcomes differs from that of higher intensity forms of workplace mistreatment inclusive of bullying, abusive supervision, and sexual harassment, thereby enhancing understanding regarding the nomological net of experienced incivility in comparison with more intense forms of workplace mistreatment. We discuss the implications of these findings along with study limitations and future directions for incivility scholarship.