The Effects of Civility on Advice, Leadership, and Performance

Abstract

Workplace incivility is rampant and on the rise-with costs to individuals and organizations. Despite the increased need for civility, little is known about potential individual benefits of civility, defined as behavior involving politeness and regard for others in the workplace, within workplace norms for respect (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). Recent research has suggested that being civil may be hazardous to influence, power, and income (see Forni, 2002; Judge et al., 2012).Yet, throughout history, civil behavior has been extolled because it paid dividends to the person who behaved well. The focus of this research is whether that holds true in organizations. Using social exchange theory, we developed hypotheses about how civility benefits people, and investigated this in 2 studies. First, in a 2-wave social network study of a research and development department (n = 31) of a biotechnology firm, we found that people who perceived a colleague as civil would be more likely to seek that person out for work advice and to see that person as a leader. The more the individual was perceived as civil by others in his or her network, the better his or her performance. Being sought out for work advice and being viewed as a leader mediated this effect. In the second experiment (n = 162), we extended our understanding of what drove these benefits. We found that people who are civil were perceived as warm and competent, and these positive perceptions, in turn, helped to explain the benefits garnered. We discuss theoretical and practical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record
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The Effects of Civility on Advice, Leadership, and Performance
Christine L. Porath
Georgetown University
Alexandra Gerbasi and Sebastian L. Schorch
Grenoble Ecole de Management
Workplace incivility is rampant and on the rise—with costs to individuals and organizations. Despite the
increased need for civility, little is known about potential individual benefits of civility, defined as
behavior involving politeness and regard for others in the workplace, within workplace norms for respect
(Andersson & Pearson, 1999). Recent research has suggested that being civil may be hazardous to
influence, power, and income (see Forni, 2002;Judge et al., 2012).Yet, throughout history, civil behavior
has been extolled because it paid dividends to the person who behaved well. The focus of this research
is whether that holds true in organizations. Using social exchange theory, we developed hypotheses about
how civility benefits people, and investigated this in 2 studies. First, in a 2-wave social network study
of a research and development department (n⫽31) of a biotechnology firm, we found that people who
perceived a colleague as civil would be more likely to seek that person out for work advice and to see
that person as a leader. The more the individual was perceived as civil by others in his or her network,
the better his or her performance. Being sought out for work advice and being viewed as a leader
mediated this effect. In the second experiment (n⫽162), we extended our understanding of what drove
these benefits. We found that people who are civil were perceived as warm and competent, and these
positive perceptions, in turn, helped to explain the benefits garnered. We discuss theoretical and practical
implications.
Keywords: civility, respect, performance, social networks, leadership
Civility costs nothing and it buys everything.
–M. W. Montagu (1997), 17th-century aristocrat/author
While people have always been a fundamental part of organi-
zations, the increased interconnectedness of jobs and people over
the last several decades (Griffin, Stoverink, & Gardner, 2012) has
made organizations more reliant on positive interpersonal social
exchanges to enhance effectiveness (Dutton, 2003;Eby & Allen,
2012). During this time, however, there has been a rise in negative
interpersonal social exchanges (Duffy & Lee, 2012). Incivility, in
particular, defined as insensitive behavior that displays a lack of
regard for others (Andersson & Pearson, 1999) is rampant (Cortina
& Magley, 2009;Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001;
Sliter, Jex, Wolford, & McInnerney, 2010) and on the rise. Al-
though 25% of employees reported being treated rudely at work at
least once a week in 1998, half reported experiencing incivility at
least once a week in 2011 (Porath & Pearson, 2012).
The costs (of incivility) are rising too because incivility reduces
performance, creativity (Porath & Erez, 2007,2009;Rafaeli et al.,
2012), and retention (Lim, Cortina, & Magley, 2008;Porath &
Pearson, 2012). It is estimated that organizations lose about $6
billion per year because of workplace incivility and related nega-
tive interactions (see Duffy, Scott, Shaw, Tepper, & Aquino,
2012).
Despite a greater understanding of the costs of incivility, rela-
tively little is known about potential individual benefits of civility,
defined as “behavior involving politeness and regard for others in
the workplace, within workplace norms for respect” (Andersson &
Pearson, 1999, p. 454). Although organizations—and employ-
ees—are more dependent on positive, civil interactions (Andersson
& Pearson, 1999), research has raised skepticism about the poten-
tial individual benefits of civility. Being nice may bring you
friends, but does it help or harm you in your career? After all, there
is a negative relationship between a person’s agreeableness and
income (Judge, Livingston, & Hurst, 2012). In general, warm
people are perceived to be less competent (Cuddy, 2009), which is
likely to have negative career implications. Additional research has
shown that people who buck social rules—treating people disre-
spectfully—and get away with it tend to garner power (Pfeffer,
2013). If you are civil, you may be perceived as weak and ignored
or taken advantage of (Forni, 2002). Being kind or considerate
may be hazardous to your self-esteem, goal achievement, influ-
ence, career, and income (Forni, 2002;Judge et al., 2012).
We address the practical quandary—the inherent need for work-
place civility—yet the decision that many people may grapple
with—“whether or not to be civil?” As the workplace environment
continues to become more fast-paced, technologically complex,
interdependent, and culturally diverse, we suggest that people may
benefit from being civil. Civility forges connections (Dutton, 2003,
2005;Hallowell, 1999), fostering opportunities for relationships
This article was published Online First March 23, 2015.
Christine L. Porath, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown Uni-
versity; Alexandra Gerbasi and Sebastian L. Schorch, Department of
Management, Technology and Strategy, Grenoble Ecole de Management.
We thank Thomas Bateman, Robert Bies, Jane Dutton, Cristina Gibson,
Virginie Lopez-Kidwell, and Andrew Parker for their insightful sugges-
tions and assistance, which helped to shape this study.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Christine
L. Porath, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, Wash-
ington, DC 20057. E-mail: cp423@georgetown.edu
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Journal of Applied Psychology © 2015 American Psychological Association
2015, Vol. 100, No. 5, 1527–1541 0021-9010/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000016
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