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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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... Perceived warmth and competence. People constantly make judgments about their own psychological attributes (such as personality, emotions, and attitudes) and those of others (Kenny, 2020), with wide-ranging implications for social actors' networks and the resulting outcomes (e.g., Kleinbaum et al., 2015;Porath et al., 2015). Whereas the role of perceptions as an antecedent to network change has traditionally been studied at the individual (i.e., ego-network) level, a single study in our sample develops a multilevel theory of how interpersonal perceptions cause the emergence of different leadership structures in groups (i.e., whole-network level). ...
... In a first group of papers, such change unfolds at the individual level of analysis. In a study that uses both a social network analysis of an R&D department of a biotechnology firm and an experiment, Porath, Gerbasi, and Schorch (2015) showed that, the more an individual is perceived as civil by their colleagues, the more they turn to him or her for advice and the more they perceive them to be a leader, which, in turn, enhances that individual's performance. Çelen and Hyndman (2012) studied social learning and show that the cost of forming new ties determines which ties are formed and how useful they end up being. ...
... Our review of this domain also prompts an important methodological consideration. Although research questions in this domain lend themselves naturally to a formal test of mediation (see, e.g., Aguinis, Edwards, & Bradley, 2017), relatively few studies have applied that approach (for exceptions, see Balkundi et al., 2011;Ng & Feldman, 2014;and Porath et al., 2015). Rather, work has commonly used multiple studies answering different aspects of the research question in a stepwise fashion (e.g., Shah et al., 2021). ...
Social networks are dynamic by nature. While network research has tended to treat relationships between social actors as static, the past decades have seen a surge in literature that extends a dynamic lens to the study of intra-organizational networks. Critically, to date there is no comprehensive and systematic review of intra-organizational network dynamics studies. Moreover, the field lacks programmatic coherence, clear and consistent terminology, and methodological clarity. This review attempts to resolve these issues. To foster a common language, we start by providing an integrative definition and clarifying the scope of intra- organizational network dynamics. This allows us to distinguish four domains of dynamic network theorizing. Building on this, we develop an encompassing framework that maps the multiple facets of this literature and apply it to organize our summary and synthesis. We then take a bird’s-eye view of the full body of research and discuss four foundational areas in which network dynamics research can be conceptually and methodologically extended. We end by elaborating on the issue of interdependence in network data and providing an overview of the leading statistical approaches for modelling longitudinal network data.
... However, decency is still very rarely recognized as one of the essential qualities in business (both by researchers and practitioners). This is shown by estimates that businesses lose $6 billion per year due to hostile work environments created by behavior such as managerial incivility and related negative interactions (Porath, Gerbasi, & Schorch, 2015). Incivility dominates business relationships (Leiter et al., 2011;Pearson, Andersson, & Porath, 2005) and efficient interventions are hence required to improve the quality of work relationships. ...
... The context of communication, connections, and relationships implies necessary (positive or negative) social exchanges at work (Porath, Gerbasi, & Schorch, 2015;Griffin, Stoverink, & Gardner, 2012;Dutton, 2003). Namely, in performing complex tasks, employees often seek exchanges from others in the form of expert opinion, knowledge, energy, and/or experience. ...
... Civil behavior establishes links (Dutton, 2003;Hallowell, 1999) and inspires positive emotions (Porath, Gerbasi & Schorch, 2015) inciting possibilities for relationships and benefits which come due to rooted behavior (Lawler, 2001). Decency embodies warm, friendly, other-oriented behaviors. ...
This study aims to improve the understanding of perceived managerial decency by developing an initial set of items for its measurement scale. Based on the social exchange theory and driven by the strong need for instilling more decency and civility in managerial discourse, this study makes a comprehensive overview of the scope and domain of perceived managerial decency and extracts the potential decency dimensions. After conducting a literature review, 50 collected interview responses on typical examples of managerial decency, as perceived by employees, served as a basis for further analysis. Using the content analysis tools, we generated a set of initial items and dimensions of decency. Those were further refined by 21 experts (5 from academia and 16 from the target audience) using the means of qualitative and quantitative assessment. as a result, we define the perceived managerial decency construct and outline its six potential dimensions: (1) respectful interactions, (2) treatment with good manners, (3) employee development, (4) mutual trust, (5) decent feedback, and (6) providing insight into a bigger picture, as well as generate a set of 75 valid items that reflect the decency construct. We further discuss the research implications for theory and practice.
... Individuals are more likely to reach out to collaborate and associate with those high in competence because of an expectation that these acts could lead them to instrumental outcomes, such as more opportunities to learn new knowledge and skills, better performance and rewards, or effective advice and help (Cuddy et al., 2008;Vroom, 1964). In support of this argumentation, Porath, Gerbasi, and Schorch (2015) found that competence perception explains leader emergence in simulated teams in their experimental study. ...
... To measure leadership emergence, in this study we used the three-item scale from Porath et al. (2015), which was originally also developed in a vignette study. Participants were asked, in light of the scenario, to what extent they "view Taylor as a leader," "would recommend Taylor as a leader," and "believe Taylor possesses leadership qualities" (Cronbach's α = .91). ...
... To mitigate negative social experiences at work without withholding proactivity as the expense, proactive employees may consider deliberately restoring coworker warmth perception; for example, behaving in a humble and open manner in initiating changes or showing more politeness and respect for coworkers in the workplace (Brosi et al., 2016;Porath et al., 2015). Moreover, we suggest that proactive employees prioritize placing themselves in a "pond" ...
We study employee taking charge behavior in a team context and investigate how it influences social consequences in work teams. Drawing on the person perception perspective and the warmth–competence framework, we develop a theoretical model outlining how coworkers view and react to those team members who take charge more at work. We conducted two studies to test our model. Using a three‐wave, multisource study with a round‐robin design (Study 1), we find that members who take charge relatively more in their work teams tend to be perceived as more competent and are more likely to emerge as informal leaders; however, they are also likely to be seen as less warm and receive less coworker support, especially in teams with a low initiative climate. In a follow‐up vignette experimental study (Study 2), we replicate the results in a more controlled setting and expand our understanding of the social consequences for employee taking charge behavior. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results.
... As mentioned earlier, this positive take on (in)civility allows organizations to frame the But does it pay to be civil? Using Social Network Analysis, Porath, Gerbasi, and Schorch (2015) examined the effects of civility on advice, leadership, and performance. They found that employees who perceived a coworker to be "civil" were more likely to view that coworker as a leader and seek out advice from him or her. ...
... They found that employees who perceived a coworker to be "civil" were more likely to view that coworker as a leader and seek out advice from him or her. Porath et al. (2015) also found that civil employees were perceived as more competent, warmer, and possessing more leadership qualities compared to their uncivil or even neutral counterparts. In turn, all of these positive benefits of civility (e.g., leadership qualities, competence) are associated with increased performance for the civil employee (Porath et al., 2015). ...
... Porath et al. (2015) also found that civil employees were perceived as more competent, warmer, and possessing more leadership qualities compared to their uncivil or even neutral counterparts. In turn, all of these positive benefits of civility (e.g., leadership qualities, competence) are associated with increased performance for the civil employee (Porath et al., 2015). ...
... 6 Experiencing incivility has been argued to lead to negative cognitive and behavioural outcomes for staff (rumination, reducing work effort, spending time worrying and taking frustration out on patients), leading some authors to liken it to 'a pathogen that can quickly and silently sicken a team, department, and organisation as well as customers and other external stakeholders.' 7 In relation to healthcare settings, the focus in medical literature has been on perceptions of incivility 8 and on its effects on quality and safety, 9,10 team cohesion and performance, 7,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] staff physical and mental health (leading to burnout, stress and depression), 7,20 staff satisfaction 21 and staff retention, 22 especially among nurses. Several studies also explore the preventive measures that can be taken. ...
... 6 Experiencing incivility has been argued to lead to negative cognitive and behavioural outcomes for staff (rumination, reducing work effort, spending time worrying and taking frustration out on patients), leading some authors to liken it to 'a pathogen that can quickly and silently sicken a team, department, and organisation as well as customers and other external stakeholders.' 7 In relation to healthcare settings, the focus in medical literature has been on perceptions of incivility 8 and on its effects on quality and safety, 9,10 team cohesion and performance, 7,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] staff physical and mental health (leading to burnout, stress and depression), 7,20 staff satisfaction 21 and staff retention, 22 especially among nurses. Several studies also explore the preventive measures that can be taken. ...
... Workplace civility is correlated positively with collaboration [54] and affects employees' work outcomes positively [55]. It creates a good working atmosphere [56], is conducive to colleagues exchanging and sharing information, and improves their engagement [57]. When individuals are treated with courtesy and respect, they will reciprocate [58], while when the workplace is less civil, ostracism may occur. ...
... Unlike prior research, workplace civility rarely serves as a moderating variable, while as a workplace climate, it affects the strength of the relation above. Workplace civility creates a good working climate [56], is conducive to colleagues exchanging and sharing information during the COVID-19 pandemic, and improves their innovative work behaviour [57]. With the support of a civilised workplace, hotel employees are establishing a positive personal appearance, reducing the risk of resource damage. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has severely accelerated the transformation and rapid organisational change in the workplace. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hotel industry will not fade in a short time, and the long-term coexistence with the COVID-19 pandemic pressure is a real dilemma for the hotel industry. The topic of How to create employee positive workplace outcomes (task performance and innovative work behaviour) during the COVID-19 pandemic has garnered increasing interest in both practical and academic fields. Leaders play a critical role in influencing employee workplace outcomes, yet few studies have explored the predicting role of health-promoting leadership. Drawing upon the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to examine the employability mediator effect and workplace civility as the moderator effect in the relationship between health-promoting leadership and employee-positive workplace outcomes (task performance and innovative work behaviour). We conducted a two-wave survey of 421 participants from the hotel industry in China and formulated a series of hypotheses that were tested with structural equation modelling. The results showed that health-promoting leadership has a significant positive effect on employees’ employability (β = 0.479, p < 0.001), task performance (β = 0.250, p < 0.001), and innovative work behaviour (β = 0.446, p < 0.001). Employability has a significant positive effect on task performance (β = 0.438, p < 0.001) and innovative work behaviour (β = 0.296, p < 0.001). This study makes certain contributions to the extant hotel industry employees’ positive workplace outcomes literature by attending to the healthy leadership styles that promote employability during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its novel point is to evaluate the workplace civility moderating effect between the above model. It also provides practical insight that mutual transformation in workplace relationships inspire those positive outcomes.
... Using Messick's theory of instrument development [9,10] as a methodological framework, the long-term aim of this study is to develop the Faculty Experiences & Outcomes Multidimensional Scale (FEOMS)--a valid and reliable instrument that examines the influence of mentoring, organizational climate, incivility, and role expectations on the career outcomes and jobs satisfaction of engineering faculty, especially women of color. FOES is a compilation of items pulled from existing instruments that measure the four aforementioned factors (e.g., [4][5][6][7][8]) and tweaked for studying these phenomena in an academic context. This work in progress paper presents the results of a pilot study, a first step toward this long-term goal. ...
... This study includes the results of a pilot study toward this end. FOEMS is a compilation of items pulled from existing instruments that measure the four aforementioned factors (e.g., [4][5][6][7][8]) and tweaked for studying these phenomena in an academic context. While the complete survey included a combination of item formats (e.g., fill in the blank, inserting a number of hours dedicated to routine tasks), only the Likert items will be discussed in this study. ...
... Inclusive Work Environment: Foster an inclusive work environment that values diversity and promotes equal opportunities for all employees (Porath et al., 2015). This can be achieved by implementing policies and practices that address unconscious bias, discrimination, and harassment (Nakamura, 2022). ...
Este artículo examina los temas de diversidad e inclusión en el campo de la ingeniería civil en América Latina. Destaca la importancia de estudiar la diversidad para fomentar la innovación, atender las necesidades sociales y mejorar la educación. El artículo analiza los principales factores socioculturales que impactan la profesión en América Latina, incluyendo la historia, política, desigualdades sociales, diversidad cultural, educación, urbanización, movimientos indígenas y actitudes de género. Se exploran las consecuencias de la falta de diversidad, como perspectivas limitadas, sesgos inconscientes y el sub-aprovechamiento del talento. Se describen recomendaciones para promover la diversidad y la inclusión, relacionadas con la educación, tutoría, contratación, ambientes de trabajo inclusivos, colaboración, investigación y desarrollo profesional. El artículo concluye que se requiere un enfoque multifacético para fomentar la diversidad y la equidad en la ingeniería civil latinoamericana. Las estrategias deben abordar las barreras históricas e institucionales y apuntar a aumentar la representación, proporcionar sistemas de apoyo, crear conciencia y culturas organizacionales inclusivas. Esto permitirá al campo de la profesión aprovechar talentos y perspectivas diversas para la innovación y atender eficazmente las necesidades de las diversas sociedades. Los conocimientos de este análisis pueden orientar políticas e iniciativas para desarrollar una profesión de ingeniería civil más inclusiva en toda América Latina.
... Second, we wanted to minimize demand characteristics insofar as we did not want to directly inform participants that our research interest (in part) was in their perceptions of an employee's incivility, which we believed would occur if we had directly focused participant's attention on an uncivil employee. We nonetheless reasoned that uncivil behavior would influence who participants decided to reflect upon; in addition to perceptions of competence, perceptions of warmth-to which uncivil behavior directly relate [29]-reflect fundamental aspects of social perception [30]. Comparisons to a pilot sample in which different instructions were used support this conclusion. ...
We utilize signaling theory as a foundation for testing ways to decrease reference providers' fear of adverse consequences and increase disclosure of workplace incivility in reference checks. We focus on three reminders-commonly recommended by practitioners-that may be sent to reference providers in the instructions prior to the reference check: reminders of applicant consent, qualified privilege, and confidentiality. 420 supervisors were recruited via Prolific.co to complete a hypothetical reference check for the employee with whom they least like to work. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a two (applicant consent reminder: yes/no) X two (qualified privilege reminder: yes/no) X two (confidentiality reminder: yes/no) between-subjects design. Instructions before the reference check were manipulated in a manner that corresponded to their experimental condition, after which they completed measures of fear and incivility. Results showed no main effects, but two interactions. Applicant consent and qualified privilege interacted in relation to fear of adverse legal consequences, and confidentially and qualified privilege interacted in relation to reports of applicant incivility (p < .10). Collectively, our largely null findings suggest that reference checks may be a limited tool for incivility prevention.
... In contrast, whether and how FWC might affect employees' negative interpersonal behaviours at work remains largely unclear, with only a few studies (e.g., Courtright et al., 2016;Dionisi & Barling, 2019) finding that supervisors' experience of FWC has the potential to elicit their abusive supervisor behaviours at work. Given that negative interpersonal behaviours have serious implications at all levels of the organization such as decreased mental health and job satisfaction at the individual level (Lim et al., 2008), decreased team performance (Porath et al., 2015), and decreased productivity for the organization (Hutton & Gates, 2008), it is critical to strengthen our understanding of the impact of FWC on additional employee negative interpersonal behaviours at work beyond abusive supervision. ...
While prior research has extensively explored outcomes of family to-work conflict (FWC), our understanding of how FWC may impact employees' negative interpersonal behaviours at work such as workplace incivility is limited. Given the serious implications of workplace incivility, the current study seeks to understand the relationship between FWC and instigated incivility via the mediating role of negative affect. The moderating role of family supportive supervisor behaviours (FSSB) is also investigated. We collected data from 129 full-time employees over three waves with six weeks in between. Results revealed that FWC positively predicted instigated incivility, and negative affect mediated this relationship. In addition, the positive effect of FWC on negative affect as well as the indirect effect of FWC on instigated incivility through negative affect were weaker for individuals experiencing more FSSB, suggesting that family related support from supervisors may attenuate the effect of FWC on employees' negative affect and its indirect effect on instigated incivility via negative affect. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
... 13). Additional consequences of incivility in the workplace include decreased collaboration, diminished employee engagement, and even increased anxiety for those who witness the uncivil behavior, even though they are not the targets (Porath et al., 2015). Notably, the targets of incivilities may experience psychological distress that is similar to that of the victims of bullying (Heffernan & Bosetti, 2021. ...
... Theoretical foundations and a conceptual model As a starting point, it is worth clarifying the particularities and specificities of OI concept. In this regard, it is important to emphasize that the common ground between WI and OI is the fact that, in any circumstance, "Incivility makes people feel less valued and powerful-it makes them feel small" (Porath et al., 2015(Porath et al., , p. 1528. Therefore, one must keep in mind that, when an incivility practice is identified, something important or valuable for someone is always neglected. ...
Purpose
Overall, the purpose of this paper is to define and delineate the meaning of the concept of Organizational Incivility (OI) by examining its features, scope and implications. Furthermore, it depicts a set of research propositions aiming to guide future research.
Design/methodology/approach
Toward this end, this paper draws upon the literature of workplace incivility, unethical behavior, organizational dark side behavior and corporate social irresponsibility, which have been examined through distinct theoretical streams and frames them under the lens of OI concept. The ensuing analysis focuses on some well-known business-cases and their tragic consequences. In doing so, it also argues that the OI concept provides a solid theoretically based framework about how uncivil mindset have been specifically shaped at the organizational level.
Findings
Overall, it is proposed that OI is a by-product of conscious (bad) decisions in which the organizational leaderships are allured, at some point and for distinct reasons, to embrace moral disengagement and unethical choices. In doing so, the organizations overlook or neglect their commitments to society’s well-being and environmental preservation. As a result, the organizations start to play a dirty game without any sense of respect for those that rely on them (i.e. consumers and citizens).
Practical implications
The implementation of strict ethical codes and governance measures have proved not to be enough to contain the OI practices. In this regard, organizational leaderships should question themselves if their companies are truly aligned with a civilized conduct. In turn, government agencies, federal laws and institutions dedicated to preserve people’s well-being should play a more incisive role by identifying and stifling the organizational dark side.
Originality/value
On the face of it, it is argued that a myriad of demonstrations of organizational dark side that are identified worldwide can be theoretically explored through the lens of OI and therein lies the major contribution of this work. More specifically, it demonstrates that incivility can go, in fact, beyond organization frontiers spilling over the stakeholders in a negative manner and damaging the interactions. Further, it also contributes to theory by suggesting that OI is a process carefully designed by the organizational leaderships to achieve obscure goals and/or darker purposes.
... Research suggests that workplace civility -including perceptions of such positive norms for respect -is associated with beneficial outcomes for individuals and organizations. These outcomes include more positive attitudes about work (e.g., job satisfaction, intention to remain in one's job), a safer workplace, and improved performance (Leiter et al., 2011;Porath et al., 2015;McGonagle et al., 2014;Walsh et al., 2012). When individuals perceive a more civil work environment, they also tend to report fewer experiences of workplace incivility (Leiter et al., 2011;Leiter et al., 2012;Walsh et al., 2012;Walsh et al., 2018), which includes "rude, condescending, and ostracizing acts that violate workplace norms of respect…" (Cortina et al., 2017, p. 299). ...
The Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education brings together leaders from academic and research institutions, and key stakeholders to work toward and share targeted, collective action on addressing and preventing sexual harassment across all disciplines and among all people in higher education. The Action Collaborative creates an active space where colleges, universities, and other research and training institutions move beyond basic legal compliance to evidence-based policies and practices for addressing and preventing all forms of sexual harassment and promoting a campus climate of civility and respect. Four Working Groups within the Action Collaborative focus on prevention, response, evaluation, and remediation of sexual harassment in higher education. Members of the Prevention Working Group wanted to better understand the landscape of civility research and civility promotion programs so they could inform efforts within higher education institutions. To gather this information, the Working Group commissioned Drs. Dana Kabat-Farr and Benjamin Walsh to write a paper on the topic using their research expertise.
... The social exchange theory (Cropanzano et al., 2017) states that social interactions can be understood in the form of sequential transactions, whereby an actor may initiate a good deed to a target individual/group and the target reciprocates this positive treatment in response to establish and maintain a high quality social exchange relationship. Research has highlighted the important role of organizational culture (e.g., collegial support, reciprocity, fairness, civility, and morality) by showing its impact on desirable work outcomes, such as prosocial behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, organiza-tional commitment, and work performance (Au & Leung, 2016;Babalola et al., 2022;Baker & Bulkley, 2014;Porath et al., 2015;Wei Tian et al., 2016. Ng andcolleagues 2021), for example, found that constructive voice (i.e., well-intended suggestions to promote positive changes at work) can spread in the organization through co-worker witnesses. ...
Organizational virtuousness is defined as collective positive attributes and behaviors supported by and characteristic of an organization that promote hedonic well-being, eudaimonic well-being, and optimal performance. The underlying mechanisms through which organizational virtuousness operate remain largely unknown. Drawing from the broaden-and-build theory, organizational virtuousness is proposed to broaden employees’ attention and cognition toward positive stimuli and events, and over time, build psychological resources for managing future endeavors. Building resources in turn promotes well-being and organizational commitment. A 3-wave prospective study (baseline, T1; 3 months, T2; and 1 year, T3) was conducted with a sample of 444 primary and secondary schoolteachers in Hong Kong. Organizational virtuousness, cognitive reappraisal, psychological capital (PsyCap), life satisfaction, flourishing, affective commitment, and contextual performance were assessed. The results showed that cognitive reappraisal and PsyCap served as sequential mediators of the relationships between three components of organizational virtuousness and all four indicators of well-being and organizational commitment. Collective gratitude, kindness, and forgiveness at T1 had significant indirect effects through cognitive reappraisal at T2 and then PsyCap at T3 on satisfaction with life, state of flourishing, emotional attachment to the organization, and engagement in extra-role activities that contribute to the organization’s efficacy. This study is among the first to provide prospective data on the effects of organizational virtuousness. The results lead to a discussion of how organizations might shape a grateful, kind, and forgiving work culture using virtue-based management to achieve optimal individual and organizational functioning.
... As illustrated in this study, grace is practiced both by people of faith and those who ascribe to no particular faith at all. The study of workplace grace has a place alongside significant MSR research domains such as faith at work (Lynn et al., 2011), spirit at work (Bell-Ellis et al., 2015), compassion (Lillius et al., 2011;Rynes et al., 2012) and civility (Liu et al., 2020;Porath et al., 2015). ...
This paper provides a focused literature review on grace, drawing on the domains of psychology, business ethics, philosophy, and religion. Then the design and findings of a qualitative study are presented. The results illustrate how individuals from a variety of organizations understand the term grace and how it has been enacted in their workplaces. Then the effects of grace in the workplace are presented, showing that most effects, both of giving and receiving grace, are positive. Yet, there are situations in which some negative consequences may occur. Based on the analysis of thirty interviews, in concert with the existing literature, a typology of four ways of enacting grace developed. Type 1 involves a direct experience of divine favor or direction while at work. Type 2 expresses kindness, with reference to spiritual beliefs or practice. Type 3 expresses kindness or friendliness, without reference to spiritual motivation or any sense of transcendence. Type 4 is anti-obligational favor expressed by one person toward another, without direct reference to spiritual motivation or empowerment. Some propositions to guide future research are offered, and implications for practice are discussed. This study contributes to the literature on management, spirituality and religion by developing the concept of grace, specifically within the workplace. This contribution is timely as workplaces are often hard-pressed by the speed of change, strong competition and at times, very harsh and challenging work conditions. The call to craft, manage and lead organizations that deliver quality products and services is always clear. While workplace pressure is up and employee engagement is down, understanding and nurturing the practice of grace is worthwhile as we seek to foster the development of workplaces that are both successful in terms of products and services, while being life-giving environments for those who work in them.
... Workplace incivility (WI), defined as low-intensity deviant workplace behavior with an ambiguous intent to harm (Andersson et al., 1999, p. 457), has gained a certain level of maturity as a research construct in its two decades of formal existence and has emerged as one of the most pertinent current topics in management research (Samad et al., 2020;Vasconcelos, 2020). Over the years, WI has been identified as a serious organizational issue (Pearson et al., 2004), with increasing consequences and costs at both the individual and organization levels (Akella et al., 2019;Cortina et al., 2001;Porath et al., 2015). To understand incivility, an understanding of civility is equally important, and existing research clearly establishes the difference between uncivil and civil work behavior. ...
Workplace incivility (WI), since its formalization as a research construct in 1999, workplace incivility (WI) has come to occupy an increasingly important place in professional and academic discourse, resulting in exponential growth in its research output. This study mapped the terrain of extant research on WI, conducted over 22
years (1999–2021), through the bibliometric approach. Using data from 382 publications[1] retrieved from the Scopus database, we identified output and obtained information about influential authors, countries and territories, institutions, publications, and outlets for WI research. We also conducted network analysis to unearth relationships between topics represented through keywords to identify the themes and sub-themes in the body of WI research. Finally, using the theory–characteristics–context–methodology (TCCM) framework, we also sought important gaps in this literature with potential for fruitful research in the future.
... Furthermore, our findings are consistent with research on adviceseeking, which points to the important role of difficult circumstances in encouraging openness to advice. Prior research on advice-seeking has predominantly focused on individual factors and outcomes (e.g., Brooks et al., 2015;Kramer, 2016;Porath et al., 2015), with relatively less attention to managerial or firm-level advice-seeking behaviors and consequences (e.g., McDonald & Westphal, 2003). We extend this research to the organizational level by theorizing how firms facing organizational challenges such as divesting in the presence of high unrelated diversification and poor performance might benefit from using a top-tier, resource-rich financial advisor and accordingly shape corporate strategic actions and outcomes. ...
Drawing from the resource-based theory, this study examines the circumstances under which financial advisors’ market status may impact divesting firms’ transaction performance (market reaction) and strategic activity (divestiture scale). We argue that divesting firms’ product diversification and performance severity interact with advisor status during critical corporate change. Based on a sample of U.S. divesting firms, we found that highly diversified firms carried out more divestiture activities when using a higher-status advisor. We also found that divesting firms with financial difficulty had more divestiture activities and had better market performance when using a higher-status advisor. This research sheds important light on the contingencies impacting the dual (strategic and financial) role of financial advisors’ market status in firms undertaking critical corporate changes through asset divestiture.
... Studies (Hershcovis and Barling, 2010;Lim and Lee, 2011) also reveal the damaging effects of incivility on employees' mental wellbeing and job satisfaction. Studies also report the spillover effects of employees' perceived mistreatment on customers' deviant behaviors (Dhanani and LaPalme, 2019), which in turn are found to negatively affect organizational performance through negative word of mouth (Porath et al., 2015) and lower customer loyalty (Zoghbi-Manrique- de-Lara et al., 2013). Although research has focused on studying the impact of incivility on various easily observable employee DWB and performance outcomes, it has failed to examine the types of Complex nexus of punitive supervision minor and not easily observable employee DWB as a result of perceived mistreatment. ...
This study investigates when and why organizational dehumanization leads to deviant work behavior. Accordingly, aims to investigate the impacts of organizational dehumanization on perceived incivility and deviant work behavior. In addition to this, also investigates the psychological capital as moderator between organizational dehumanization and perceived incivility, while perceived incivility as a mediator between organizational dehumanization and deviant work behaviors (employee time theft and knowledge hiding). A time lag approach: with three-time intervals T1, T2 and T3 respectively was used to collect the data from hotel employees. Results indicate that organizational dehumanization leads to perceived incivility and thereof, perceived incivility propels deviant work behaviors amongst employees. Moreover, employee’s psychological capital played a protective role of reducing the detrimental effects of organizational dehumanization on perceived incivility. This research contributes to literature by considering behavioral outcomes of organizational dehumanization. For managers this study provides insights to minimize organizational stressors to buffer employee deviant behaviors. This study also provides new research avenues in hospitality industry.
... In this article, we explore how two key practices might help remedy this situation-civility (i.e., "behavior involving politeness and regard for others, " Porath, Gerbasi, & Schorch, 2015, p. 1527 and cultural humility (i.e., "an interpersonal stance that is other-oriented rather than self-focused [and is] characterized by respect and lack of superiority toward an individual's cultural background and experience, " Hook, Davis, Owen, Worthington, & Utsey, 2013, p. 353). We focus on a topic at the nexus of controversy-the intersection of religion/ spirituality and sexuality/gender. ...
We are living in the most culturally diverse but perhaps least interculturally civil time in modern history, and the field of psychology is not immune. Over recent decades, our field has often engaged in divisive and uncivil dialogue, as people with diverse perspectives have criticized, derogated, or even demonized one another. This article explores how civility and cultural humility can help remedy such situations. We focus on the controversial intersection of religion/spirituality and sexuality/gender. Bringing together a diverse group of coauthors, we discuss how cultural humility and civility can help navigate controversy within the arenas of public policy, multicultural training, X Edward B. Davis, School of Psychology, Counseling , and Family Therapy,
... Conceptually delineating these two forms of treatment may also deepen our understanding of research on civility, which reflects a quality of treatment with conceptual parallels to that of fair treatment (e.g., expressions of politeness, dignity; though not conceptually identical) [38,39]. Yet civility has at times been operationalized to straddle notions of both fair and distinctive treatment (e.g., [37;Study 2]). ...
Organizations and other groups often recognize the importance of members treating each other in a fair (dignified, unbiased) manner. This type of treatment is key to fostering individuals’ sense of belonging in the group. However, while a sense of belonging is important, individuals also need to be shown that they have some distinct value to the group – enabling them to not only “fit in” but also “stand out.” Building from research on fair treatment, we explicate another form, distinctive treatment, whereby others show interest and appreciation for an individual’s more distinguishing, group-relevant qualities. In six studies using multiple methods (e.g., experimental, longitudinal) and in multiple types of groups (work organizations, student communities, racial/ethnic minority groups), we show that fair and distinctive treatment play fundamentally different roles – shaping individuals’ perceived belonging versus intragroup standing, respectively – and with downstream benefits for mental health (less anxiety, fewer depressive symptoms). Overall, this illustrates that promoting fair treatment in groups is important, but not sufficient. Experiencing distinctive treatment is also key. Each type of treatment provides unique social evaluative information that fosters a healthy sense of self. This research further indicates that distinctive treatment may be a vital yet overlooked element to promoting diversity and inclusion in groups, as it provides a path for recognizing and appreciating, and thus encouraging, a diversity of ideas, insights, knowledge and skills that individuals bring to the group.
... Members with low PsyCap-EI may misinterpret their companion's emotional state, making an attempt to achieve connection to be perceived as insincerity (Brown & Levinson, 1987), which may degrade relationships (Wei & Chen, 2012). With less capacity to optimise relationships, their risk-minimising option is civility and politeness (Porath, Gerbasi, & Schorch, 2015). ...
As a thesis by publication, the candidate presents his published or submitted first-author research papers that develop a model to explain the innate capacity of humans to collaborate in egalitarian teams. Group dynamics are comprised of the minutiae of member perceptions and reactions that cohere a group. This research addresses the lack of a compelling (comprehensive, accurate and detailed) model of group dynamics.
The word model describes a simplified representation of reality, that may encapsulate multiple theories. By contrast, theory is singular and suggests only partial representation of reality. A model may therefore offer a more complete representation and may achieve the consilience of numerous theories.
This thesis formulates the PILAR model and evaluates each of its five Pillars (Prospects, Involved, Liked, Agency, Respect) and 20 interconnecting forces for their collective capacity to characterise a small group. Various empirical and conceptual evaluations allow the candidate to recommend PILAR as a consilience model that credibly integrates numerous theories while representing an extensive assortment of group dynamics.
Chapter one
Reviews current group dynamics literature; including concepts, models, perspectives, and methodologies. Reasons are proposed for why social and organisational psychology has (arguably) failed to converge upon a compelling baseline model that is consistent with anthropological hominin groups. To demonstrate a potential application of such a model, I examine a practitioner method of organisational devolution, Appreciative Inquiry (AI). The chapter then presents a novel, iterative, method for developing a baseline model of group dynamics that has been adopted by the candidate.
Chapter two (published)
Proposes PILAR as a baseline model of group dynamics encapsulating a significant proportion of social and group psychology (SGP) theory. PILAR postulates five ostensive constructs (Pillars) that each member is unconsciously influenced by, when moderating their level of effort, or engagement. These five Pillars then prompt various participant behaviours, including both visible actions such as expressing an opinion or aiding another member, and hidden actions such as thought processes, which may only be evident in body language (if at all).
Chapters three, four and five (all published)
These three chapters examine whether group members use the five Pillars to assess one another’s contribution to a team. A member observing a colleague’s low Pillars may deduce their poor engagement, while higher Pillars suggest significant effort. A member might also collectively evaluate colleagues’ Pillars to assess a group’s overall engagement, either to match this level, or strategically vary from it, for instance to demonstrate leadership (discussed further in §8.3.3).
Chapter three considers whether peer assessment data is indicative of a student team’s collective engagement, and therefore team grade. However only a weak correlation between team grade and team engagement is found. Empirical investigation reveals that half of the respondents answered the survey insincerely, as demonstrated by a lack of variance between responses. Recommendations are made for an improved, and shorter, peer assessment instrument to encourage sincere responses.
Using an Exploratory Factor Analysis, Chapter four tests whether respondents aligned their item responses in accordance with the five Pillars. Results were as hypothesised, which prompts the candidate to assess whether the five Pillars were present in a popular online peer assessment tool, the Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness (CATME). It is found that CATME’s originating methodology had excluded two Pillars from consideration. High inter-correlations between CATME’s dimensions may have been the result of redundancy as three Pillars were extended over five dimensions.
Chapter five reports the design of a brief peer assessment instrument informed by the Pillars, called Pillar-PP, that assesses a respondent’s peer’s perceptions. The chapter concludes with a recommendation to validate Pillar-PP, while also attempting to identify inter-rater bias between respondents.
Chapter six (published)
To investigate the universality of PILAR, Chapter six attempts unification of two divergent literatures, one positivist and one constructivist. Regarding the positivist literature, it was postulated that should PILAR accurately represent the small group, its Pillars may be able to categorise industrial and organisational psychology (IOP) constructs, since organisations are constituted by (albeit, hierarchical) teams. Regarding the constructivist literature, AI is action research that facilitates the formation of egalitarian team to undertake ad hoc projects.
Chapters seven (published) and eight (submitted)
These two chapters develop an evolutionary story behind a postulated baseline model. Chapter seven contends that sub-group level selection (sGLS) selected for pre-verbal anthropological prosociality. Chapter eight extends sGLS by considering how hominins and modern humans moderate their engagement as hierarchy steepness varies.
Chapter nine (submitted)
Assesses to extent to which Pillars are represented within a systematically selected set of constructs used for group research. It is found that approximately 80% of constructs conceptually align with one Pillar, which suggests that PILAR constitutes a baseline model.
Chapter ten (published)
Applies PILAR to two growing societal problems, mental health and precarious employment. I develop a model that connects the five Pillars with wellbeing via constructs associated with positive psychology. Each Pillar is postulated as only being reliably achievable when a member possesses the respective dimension of psychological capital (PsyCap). Furthermore, that participation in the team delivers the member each of five basic psychological needs (BPN). When examined in the context of low-status, precarious, employment, a novel public policy for increasing population wellbeing is presented.
Chapter eleven
The conclusion summarises the sequence of postulates developed through the course of the thesis. Policy and theory implications were then explored, followed by chapter-specific limitations that are potentially significant in aggregation. The thesis ends with a contention that a unique methodology allows deeper insights than ordinarily possible in a dynamically complex problem space.
... irritability, intolerance, and the absence of common courtesies extended to others (Andersson & Pearson, 1999;Rosen, Koopman, Gabriel, & Johnson, 2016), possibly including people who are not members of the organization. Incivility also can contribute to a target withdrawing from and decreasing communication with others that may ultimately impact work performance in environments requiring collaboration (Porath, Foulk, & Erez, 2015a;Porath, Gerbasi, & Schorch, Porath, Gerbasi, et al., 2015b; The Joint Commission, 2012). These spiraling negative effects are described by Andersson and Pearson (1999) as incivility spirals that expand the range of people that potentially are negatively affected by incivility. ...
Persistent and pervasive rudeness and lack of respect are unfortunately common in workplaces today. The deleterious effects of this incivility at work may be even worse than previously demonstrated, impacting not only employee victims but also trickling down to those who employees contact. However, we propose that leaders who prioritize their followers’ needs above their own, also known as servant leaders, may be a critical preventative mechanism to reduce group-level incivility through promoting a virtuous climate. Applying social learning theory and social information processing theory, we argue that servant leaders role model virtuous character that contributes to a virtuous climate that influences group members to reduce incivility and, in turn, treat others well. We utilize the healthcare setting (1,485 nurses in 71 hospital units) to support this hypothesized process across multi-source measures of incivility from coworkers and team supervisors and three indicators of quality of patient care. Specific findings and implications for managers in healthcare settings and beyond are discussed.
... The items instructed participants to "indicate how often each person acted rudely toward you at work during the past year" and to "indicate how often you acted rudely toward each person during the past year." Single-item measures are common in round-robin designs (e.g., de Jong et al., 2007;Lyons & Scott, 2012;Venkataramani & Dalal, 2007) and have been used to measure incivility in other work (Porath et al., 2015). Both measures were anchored on a scale ranging from 1 (never) ...
In the two decades since Andersson and Pearson (1999) suggested workplace incivility occurs in dyadic relationships between two employees, research has only studied incivility from the perspective of either the target or the instigator. In doing so, it implicitly treats experienced and instigated incivility as though they solely reflect (viz., dispositional, situational) characteristics of targets and instigators, ignoring that incivility is also attributable to the unique relationship between dyad members. The present study draws on the norm of reciprocity to examine workplace incivility in dyadic relationships and how it differs across individuals. Using dyads as the unit of analysis, we test our predictions among employees at a US restaurant chain (Sample 1), a technology manufacturer in China (Sample 2), and across a range of industries, organizations, and jobs in the US (Sample 3). We find that experienced and instigated incivility exhibit substantial variation at the dyad level, that the two are related within dyads after accounting for individuals’ general tendencies to experience and instigate incivility, and that the within-dyad association between experienced and instigated incivility is moderated by perceived descriptive and injunctive norms regarding uncivil behavior. Implications and future research directions are discussed.
... Although the follower's response to the leader's affective state may take a variety of forms, theory on affect in social exchange processes highlights performance, specifically task performance, as a key reciprocal behavior driven by the information perceived from others' affective states (Lau & Cobb, 2010;Lawler, 2001). For example, work on civility and its associated positive feelings spurred reciprocity in recipients in the form of enhanced task performance (Porath et al., 2015). Empirical work on trait affect in teams has found high levels of positive affect can prompt social exchange processes that result in higher performance levels (Barsade et al., 2000;Staw & Barsade, 1993) whereas negative affect does the opposite (Cole et al., 2008). ...
Despite evidence that affect shapes perceptions of workplace relationships, the role of affect in the reciprocal exchange process of leader‐member exchange (LMX) theory is often overlooked. We argue that this is likely due to a continued focus on global assessments of LMX quality, rather than examination of the reciprocal, interlocked actions and reactions that take place daily between members of the dyad. A leader's affective state may indeed spark this reciprocal exchange process on a daily level and ultimately shape the state of the leader‐follower relationship. In this study, we integrate LMX theory and emotions‐as‐social‐information (EASI) theory to examine how the leader's negative and positive affective states uniquely contribute to the reciprocal exchange process. In doing so, we advance understanding of the distinction of state LMX as well as the unique process for leader's negative affective state within the reciprocal exchange process. Using a 15‐day experience sampling methodology study of 76 leader‐follower dyads, we find that a leader's positive and negative affective states transmit effects along the affective and inferential paths posited in EASI theory to influence follower performance on a daily basis. Interestingly, a leader's positive affective state is stronger along the affective path and a leader's negative affective state is stronger along the inferential path. We also find that leaders reciprocate the daily shift in follower performance with OCBI directed toward the follower. Finally, as expected, the reciprocal exchange process alters state LMX (leader‐rated).
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... An organization (school) who wanted to reach effectiveness in the pursuit of success must recognize unique talents of its employees in their efforts to help advance the organization. Leaders in particular should play a major role in helping employees to exhibit and realizing their potential (Porath, Gerbasi & Schorch, 2015). ...
This paper examines the relationship between servant leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, and job satisfaction among school teachers. The first objective of the study is to explore the history, concept, and development of servant leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, and job satisfaction. The second objective is to determine previous related studies that reveal the relationship between these 3 theories towards teachers throughout the world. The third objective of the study is to focus on the relationship study between these 3 theories in the Malaysian education system. As a conclusion, this study will provide the researcher's views on why this study should be featured in the Malaysian education system.
... In other words, when supervisors are attentive to personal problems by providing respectful treatment with a high level of dignity, subordinates feel they are significant and worthy of their respect (Colquitt and Rodell, 2015). In addition, Porath et al. (2015) further found that a good supervisor-subordinate relationship is mutually able to create a supportive working environment. Drawing upon these reasons, high perceived IJ from supervisors may give rise to job satisfaction, despite experiencing uncivil behavior at workplace. ...
Purpose: Academia is known for its high competitiveness, with prestige and diverse responsibilities and achievements being decisive determinants of success resulting in academic incivility. This paper extends Lazarus and Folkman's theory of stress by examining the moderating role of interpersonal justice (IJ) , as supervisory support, on academics' job satisfaction and depressivity.
Design/methodology/approach: The study recruited 185 academics from a public university in Malaysia to participate in a survey. Using the partial least squares- structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) analysis, academic incivility was negatively related to job satisfaction, whilst positively related to depressivity.
Findings: As hypothesized, it was found that the predicted detrimental effect of academic incivility on job satisfaction was buffered by perceiving high IJ from their immediate supervisors, i.e. deans or heads of department. An unanticipated finding was that there was a stronger relationship between academic incivility and depressivity for those academics who perceived high supervisory IJ.
Practical implications: Further, academic management can formulate and revise zero-incivility policies and promote awareness explaining the detrimental impacts of incivility, despite support systems in academia.
Originality/value: This study provides the first empirical evidence showing the differential impact of supervisory IJ on two conditions of incivility–well-being relationships. Work culture and various sources of incivility should be considered for future research.
... Pseudo R 2 for the slope computed with Aguinis et al.'s (2013) formula J Bus Psychol (see Appendix). Instructions were brief in both conditions, akin to extant experimental research on workplace incivility (e.g., Porath, Gerbasi, & Schorch, 2015). Instructions in the control condition were modeled after the instructions used in study 1 to maintain consistency across studies 1 and 2. Instructions in the value civility condition were inspired by the aforementioned example of Netflix as an organization that does not let high performance compensate for disrespect. ...
To prevent workplace incivility, scholars encourage organizations to use reference checks to help eliminate uncivil applicants. However, under certain conditions, reference providers may be willing to recommend their rude colleagues for employment. We test this possibility by studying willingness to recommend, which captures a willingness to serve as a professional reference for a colleague. Based on signaling theory, we hypothesized that colleague incivility is negatively related to willingness to recommend, but this relationship is moderated by colleague in-role performance and job-level factors. In study 1, multilevel modeling of multisource data revealed that colleague incivility negatively related to willingness to recommend, but troublingly, this relationship was weaker among colleagues who were high rather than low performers, regardless of job-level moderators. In study 2, we tested whether organizations can intervene and encourage potential reference providers to pay greater attention to incivility. Regression results showed that providers placed greater weight on their colleague’s incivility in relation to willingness to recommend when signals were sent that the hiring organization was unwilling to sacrifice civility for top performance. Our research helps illuminate when incivility instigators are likely to be recommended for employment and demonstrates a way to maximize the use of reference checks for incivility prevention.
Given the increasing use of intelligent technologies and the resulting requirement for leaders to be tech-savvy, an important question that emerges is whether perceptions of leadership effectiveness are changing too? Drawing from gender role theory and expectation violation theory, we propose and test a model of whether and how females can benefit from being tech-savvy. To explore whether women may stand to gain from the changing nature of the workforce or not, we ran a series of studies. Our data sources included a cross-sectional time-lagged field study and experimental studies with students and online adults. We found that a definitive skill of the current technological era, tech-savviness, changes perceptions and evaluations of female leaders in a much more positive way than it does for male leaders, as such allowing female leaders to be more likely to be perceived as effective leaders. The reason for the effect that tech-savvy women were more likely to be perceived as effective leaders was driven by the fact that tech-savvy women are seen as more competent and hence, attributed more social status. Our research goes beyond merely focusing on the negative effects of gender stereotypes by providing an actionable solution—that comes from promoting tech knowledge and savviness—for women to counter gender stereotypes that undermine them from being viewed as effective leaders.
Purpose
Drawing upon self-determination theory, this study investigates the direct and indirect impact of health-promoting leadership on employee engagement via workplace relational civility and explores the moderating effect of employability on these factors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected a total of 723 matched and valid responses from nurses in Guangxi, China. Data regarding health-promoting leadership, workplace relational civility, employability and employee engagement were gathered using a survey administered in two waves, 1 week apart. The authors utilised structural equation modelling and linear regression to test the model.
Findings
This study reveals that health-promoting leadership has both direct and indirect positive effects on nurses' engagement through workplace relational civility. Furthermore, the authors found that employability negatively moderates the impact of workplace relational civility on nurses' engagement but does not moderate the impact of health-promoting leadership on nurses' engagement.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that have examined the effects of health-promoting leadership within the nursing industry. The authors confirm the importance of health-promoting leadership and workplace relationship civility on employee engagement. In addition, this study demonstrates the moderating role of employability in employment relationships.
Background/Aims
Poor multidisciplinary teamwork on labour wards may lead to adverse consequences for women and babies. The labour ward co-ordinator is a central role in the multidisciplinary team; however, there has been little research into explore the skills and attributes necessary for this role. This study aimed to explore the labour ward co-ordinator's skills and attributes and their impact on multidisciplinary team working.
Methods
Constructive grounded theory was used to explore the perceptions of 21 labour ward multidisciplinary team members recruited using theoretical sampling from a maternity unit in northern England.
Results
Labour ward co-ordinators play significant roles in ward organisation, team situational awareness and a well-functioning multidisciplinary team. Co-ordinators had situational awareness through a ‘helicopter view’ of the ward, supported decision making and were approachable. Excellent labour ward co-ordinators used situational awareness to pre-empt emergencies and forward plan.
Conclusions
The labour ward co-ordinator role requires a different skillset to that of midwives delivering one-to-one care in labour. To develop midwives into the co-ordinator role, attention to continuing professional development is essential. Recruitment of consultant midwives dedicated to supporting midwives delivering care to women in labour should be considered.
The impact of workplace incivility cannot be exaggerated, nor it can be ignored. Academic researchers have demonstrated in their study that 71% of the employees had faced incivility in past five years wherein the fellow court personnel were the instigators and workplace incivility is a source of job stress. Studies have reported that 78% of respondents had experienced supervisor incivility and 8% had gone through co-worker incivility. The stress released from incivility is not only within the workplace, but it is also taken home by the employees to their family domain which causes family antipathy. Haun suggested that incivility has negative impact over work and family domains as well. Employees who experience incivility hide their knowledge, and also retaliate the treatment they are given in workplace. On the days when employees are treated with uncivil behaviour, they tend to have a higher level of stress.
Legitimacy is crucial for the effectiveness of leaders in the workplace. We investigate pathways by which authorities in the workplace gain legitimacy and how they differ by authority race. In addition to leaders’ behaviors, subordinates’ impressions of leaders’ competence and warmth, stemming from those behaviors, impact their views of leader legitimacy. We further assess how the role of mediating impressions depends on the race of the authority enacting the behaviors. In an experimental vignette study, we manipulate the authority’s actions (use of fair procedures and power benevolently) and race (Black/white) and measure perceived competence, warmth, and legitimacy. Results indicate that the effects of leader behaviors on legitimacy operate through impressions of competence and warmth. Moreover, authority race alters this pathway; behaviors operate through competence impressions for white managers and through warmth impressions for Black managers. Our study illuminates how leaders gain legitimacy at work and how this process is racialized.
We conducted a systematic review of 143 empirical studies of advice-based decision making published in management or psychology between 2006 and 2020. We identified two distinct streams of the literature. The first, behavioral research, features experimental research on advice-based decisions conducted in laboratories. The second, organizational research, features observational field research on advice-based decisions in organizations. We organized the findings from the two research streams around three sequential stages: advice solicitation and provision, advice utilization, and the outcomes of advice-based decisions. Our review reveals the two streams to be highly complementary—with behavioral research focusing primarily on advice utilization and organizational research focusing primarily on advice solicitation. We consolidate key findings across the two streams. We also identify key challenges for future research, such as greater emphasis on the social aspects of advice-based decisions and the continued development and refinement of normative benchmarks.
Workplace incivility (WI), since its formalization as a research construct in 1999, has come to occupy an increasingly important place in scientific discourse, resulting in exponential growth in its research output. WI is servere as it is widely considered as the “cancer” of the workplace, thereby calling for urgent and serious attention. The persistence of WI and its continued research further highlight the all-pervasive nature of this unprofessional behavior. The goal of the present study is to map the terrain of extant research on WI, conducted over 22 years (1999–2021), using a bibliometric analysis and the theory–characteristics–context–methodology (TCCM) framework for greater efficiency and objectivity. Using data of 382 publications retrieved from the Scopus database, we investigate the output and obtain information about influential authors, countries and territories, institutions, publications, and outlets for WI research. We also engage in a network analysis to unearth relationships between topics represented through keywords to identify the themes and sub-themes in the body of WI research. Finally, using the TCCM framework, we identify important gaps in the WI literature, such as the lack of WI research across cross cultural settings, the lack of sectorial comparisons on the WI phenomenon, and the lack of analyses of both pre-emptive and redressal interventions to prevent and address WI, among other gaps. Finally, we outline a set of 12 specific recommendations for future research on WI.
Background
Speaking up with concerns is critical for patient safety. We studied whether witnessing a civil (i.e. polite, respectful) response to speaking up would increase the occurrence of further speaking up by hospital staff members as compared with witnessing a pseudo-civil (i.e. vague and slightly dismissive) or rude response.
Methods
In this RCT in a single, large academic teaching hospital, a single simulated basic life support scenario was designed to elicit standardised opportunities to speak up. Participants in teams of two or three were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which the degree of civility in reacting to speaking up was manipulated by an embedded simulated person. Speaking up behaviour was assessed by behaviour coding of the video recordings of the team interactions by applying 10 codes using The Observer XT 14.1. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling.
Results
The sample included 125 interprofessional hospital staff members (82 [66%] women, 43 [34%] men). Participants were more likely to speak up when they felt psychologically safe (γ=0.47; standard error [se]=0.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.09–0.85; P=0.017). Participants were more likely to speak up in the rude condition than in the other conditions (γ=0.28; se=0.12; 95% CI, 0.05–0.52; P=0.019). Across conditions, participants spoke up most frequently by structuring inquiry (n=289, 31.52%), proactive (n=240, 26.17%), and reactive (n=148, 16.14%) instruction statements, and gestures (n=139, 15.16%).
Conclusion
Our study challenges current assumptions about the interplay of civility and speaking up behaviour in healthcare.
Organizations performing in stressful life-risking environments have unique features that directly influence human lives and communities’ well-being. Such organizations allocate vast resources to identify potential leaders as early as possible to direct and train them for leadership positions. Combat military contexts represent such organizations. The current manuscript offers a 5-year prospective study, addressing a critical gap in the literature regarding the generalization of established predictive leadership success models to leadership in extreme conditions. The study integrates leaders’ characteristics, followers’ perceptions, leadership training, and real-life contexts. Findings show that leadership traits measured years before enlistment related to leadership success, years down the line, when congruent with specific training contexts. Candidates higher in both task and relationship characteristics and in leadership emergence progressed to the senior leadership course compared to dropouts. Leadership emergence, measured in the first phase of leadership training, was the most relevant, stable, and reliable leader’s success predictor, directly and indirectly, of leadership development, above and beyond leadership characteristics. Findings emphasize the important influence of contextual congruency on leadership success in extreme organizations. Current findings may foster better leadership prospects for communities’ well-being and may improve cost-effectiveness in the leadership development processes in extreme occupations.
Scholars have recently begun to consider the role of bystander intervention training in countering workplace incivility and bullying. Given the scarce empirical evidence of bystander training outcomes in occupational settings, this study set out to evaluate the effectiveness of a bystander intervention training in a large healthcare organisation, by assessing changes to levels of psychological safety, bystander efficacy, intent and behaviours over time. One hundred and forty employees in a large healthcare organisation in New Zealand attended the training and were asked to complete three surveys, one conducted at baseline, one carried out 2 weeks following the training and the last survey conducted 2 months later. The qualitative and qualitative findings of this study show that the bystander intervention training resulted in significant improvements to bystander attitudes and beliefs, which were ascribed to the quality of training materials, the facilitator and opportunities to role-play bystander intervention strategies. However, the positive bystander beliefs, attitudes and intent to intervene declined in the months following the training. The qualitative findings shed a light on these results and suggest that the participants required support for training transfer in the form of updated and accessible information about negative acts and bystander intervention strategies, leadership support and role modelling of bystander behaviours and civility, and the implementation of accountability systems that ensure the ongoing development of a civility culture.
Background
Nurses have an ethical obligation to create cultures of civility, treat others with respect and dignity, and foster healthy, inclusive work environments that protect worker and patient safety.
Purpose
Because concepts are known to change over time, this concept analysis compares the original concept of civility published in 2008 with the current concept analysis of civility.
Methods
The Walker and Avant method of concept analysis was utilized.
Findings
Antecedents, defining attributes, ideal and unintended consequences, relevant cases, and an operational definition of civility are presented. A conceptual model illustrates antecedents, defining attributes, consequences of civility, and the role perception plays when assessing, interpreting, experiencing, and responding to incivility.
Discussion
Authentic civility, rather than “mere civility,” is urgently needed to build meaningful relationships, create healthy, productive work and learning environments, and foster organizational cultures of inclusivity and belonging.
Background:
Promoting civility in nursing education can be accomplished with civility teams, assessing perceptions of civility and developing initiatives to address areas needing improvement.
Problem:
There is a lack of information about the effectiveness of civility teams in nursing education, leading to uncertainty on how to develop and assess civility teams.
Approach:
This article discusses how 1 school of nursing implemented a civility team and used the Clark Healthy Work Environment Inventory to assess the impact of the team.
Outcomes:
The civility team used the inventory responses from 110 team members to establish civility action items. One year later, the inventory was repeated, and the responses from 122 team members were used to evaluate the impact of the civility action items.
Conclusion:
This program evaluation indicates an effective way for nursing programs to develop civility initiatives using a validated assessment tool to create and evaluate civility action items.
Die Erkenntnis über seine eigene Persönlichkeit ist eine zentrale Schaltstelle erfolgreichen Führens. Nur wer seine eigenen Kompetenzbereiche kennt, kann entsprechend die Führungskompetenzen ausbilden, die unterentwickelten stärken oder gegebenenfalls delegieren. Die Mischung von Hard Skills und Soft Skills sowie der nötige Aufbau von Führungserfahrung sind essenziell, um dann die geforderten Rollen und Verantwortungsbereiche ausfüllen zu können. Das Selbst- und Fremdbild muss immer wieder abgefragt und neu bewertet werden. Erfolgt dies nicht, führt es zu einer falschen Selbstwahrnehmung und damit zu einer wenig flexiblen, weil vorgefertigten und in ihrem Verantwortungsbereich unausgeglichenen Führungskraft. Persönlichkeitstests und ihre Aussagekraft, Eigenmotivation, Authentizität und Empathie sind wichtige Eigenschaften neben dem Aufbau von Hard und Soft Skill-Kompetenzen.
Purpose
Based on the broaden-and-build theory, this study aims to clarify that the relationship between extraversion and service outcomes will be mediated by work vigor, and that, in turn, this mediating effect will be moderated by coworker support. Specifically, the authors examine vigor as an attitudinal resource to drive organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This research collected 181 valid questionnaires from service industries through a two-wave survey. The authors used hierarchical regression analysis to conduct each hypothesis test. Owing to the conditional mediating effect, the authors differentiated each variable centering and used the fractional number and the product as the predictor variable, moderator, and interaction effects after centering.
Findings
The relationships between extraversion and customer orientation and service performance mediated by work vigor in that the indirect relationships are stronger when perceived coworker support is higher than is lower.
Research limitations/implications
Future studies are suggested to probe into different forms of social support (e.g. family support), mechanisms of coworker support (e.g. task-related vs. non-task-related assistance), and different workplace contexts.
Practical implications
Extraversion, as a personality trait, is a significant reference index to examine an applicant's qualifications during recruitment, particularly in service organizations. Appropriate job assistance and emotional conciliation from coworkers can effectively facilitate employees' work vigor and service outputs.
Originality/value
Previous studies suggested the influence of different personality traits on different dimensions of work engagement. Accordingly, investigation indicates that extraversion can effectively predict work vigor which is an important attitude of willingness to put personal efforts at work to facilitate frontline service outcomes.
Purpose
The study adopts the conservation of resources (COR) theory for providing a better theoretical understanding of punitive supervision as an antecedent of employees’ minor deviant behaviors (namely, employee time theft and knowledge hiding) via creating cognitive mechanisms (employees’ perceived incivility). The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of employees’ RESILIENCY on employees’ ability to buffer the impacts of punitive supervision.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was gathered from 265 frontline hospitality employees in Pakistan. A survey was administered in person to establish trust and rapport with employees and so, collect reliable data.
Findings
The findings confirmed a direct and mediated impact of punitive supervision on employee minor deviant behaviors via creating perceived incivility. The moderating role of employees’ resiliency was also confirmed, as the employees’ resiliency helped them mitigate the impact of punitive supervision on perceived incivility.
Research limitations/implications
Data was collected from employees’ perceptions working in one industry and cultural setting. As employees’ perceptions (influenced by their cultural background) significantly affect their interpretations and reactions to punitive behavior, future research should validate and refine the findings by collecting data from a wider and diversified cultural and industry setting.
Practical implications
The findings provide theoretical explanatory power of the drivers and the contextual factors leading to minor employee deviant behaviors. The findings guide managers on how to develop pro-active and re-active strategies for deterring the occurrence and eliminating the consequences of punitive supervision.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature in multiple ways. It identifies and validates punitive supervision as an antecedent of Deviant Work Behavior (DWB). It provides a theoretical underpinning for explaining how punitive supervision spurs cognitive mechanisms, which in turn drive DWB. It also studies the nexus between destructive supervision and its outcomes in its entirety by studying the mediated and the moderating impacts of punitive supervision and perceived incivility, respectively.
Much of organizational behavior research looks at how social context influences individuals’ experiences and behaviors. We add to this view by arguing that some individuals create their own contexts, and do so in a way that follows them across dyads, groups, and organizations. We call these individual-specific contexts “personal ecosystems,” and propose that they are created when an actor consistently engages in visible behaviors that trigger similar and visible reactions across targets of that behavior. We attribute the formation of personal ecosystems to social inertia, and identify three individual traits that increase the likelihood that an individual’s behavior is consistent across people and situations: low self-monitoring, implicit beliefs, and low levels of emotional intelligence. Finally, we discuss why understanding personal ecosystems is important for organizations, identify managerial implications of this phenomenon, and strategies for diminishing the likelihood of having personal ecosystems.
Although workplace incivility has received increasing attention in organizational research over the past two decades, there have been recurring questions about its construct validity, especially vis-à-vis other forms of workplace mistreatment. Also, the antecedents of experienced incivility remain understudied, leaving an incomplete understanding of its nomological network. In this meta-analysis using Schmidt and Hunter's [Methods of meta-analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings (3rd ed.), Sage] random-effect meta-analytic methods, we validate the construct of incivility by testing its reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, as well as its incremental predictive validity over other forms of mistreatment. We also extend its nomological network by drawing on the perpetrator predation framework to systematically study the antecedents of experienced incivility. Based on 105 independent samples and 51,008 participants, we find extensive support for incivility's construct validity. Besides, we demonstrate that demographic characteristics (gender, race, rank, and tenure), personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, negative affectivity, and self-esteem), and contextual factors (perceived uncivil climate and socially supportive climate) are important antecedents of experienced incivility, with contextual factors displaying a stronger association with incivility. In a supplementary primary study with 457 participants, we find further support for the construct validity of incivility. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
İşte Kendini yetiştirme ölçeği Porath vd (2011) tarafından geliştirilmiş, Koçak (2016) tarafından Türkçe’ye uyarlanmıştır. Orijinal ölçek beşer sorudan oluşan iki boyutuyla toplam 10 soru iken Türkçe uyarlamasında dörder sorudan oluşan iki boyut bulunmaktadır. Ölçek, gerek orijinali üzerinden gerekse de Türkçe uyarlaması üzerinden daha önce ölçüm değişmezliği incelemesine tabi tutulmamıştır. Bu çalışmada da Türkiye’den akademisyenler, beyaz yakalı çalışanlar ve mavi yakalı çalışanların katıldığı araştırmalardan elde edilen veri ile bu üç meslek grubu üzerinden ölçeğin ölçüm değişmezliği test edilmiştir. Yapısal ve metrik değişmezlik sağlanmıştır. Ancak skalar ve kısmi skalar değişmezlikler konusunda değişmezlik bulunamamıştır. Sonuçlar, çalışanların kendini yetiştirme seviyelerinin incelendiği araştırmalarda meslek grubu farklılıklarının göz önünde bulundurulması gerektiği ve olası etkilerinin kontrol edilerek analiz yapılması gerekliliğini göstermiştir.
A number of genres throughout Muslim literature attest to “civility” as the expression of proper behavior in the Islamic tradition. The present study focuses on the Qur’an and the Hadith to bring forward the paradigmatic nature of the Prophetic example. The textual analysis that follows discusses the meaning of the terms related to “civility,” namely, rahma, ma‘ruf, and adab. From the notion of mercy and recognized good, an ethic of relationships is articulated: relationships between God and human beings, human beings with one another, and human beings with the created order. This ethic is exemplified through references in the Qur’an and the Hadith, while what is emphasized is that Islamic “civility” has never stopped being performed through modes of interpretation contributing to its malleability.
Background
Teamwork is a central framework in healthcare delivery. Team dynamics can impact the team as a whole and has been identified within the literature as a contributory factor to quality and safety, patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction and overall performance. Within radiation therapy (RT), teamwork is essential in the delivery of high-quality care, yet team building and team development is under-reported.
Aim
The focus of this research is to form a better understanding of what plays an impact on teams in a large urban RT cancer centre and how to better engage staff to work together, improve team dynamics and promote team building.
Materials and Methods
An electronic search of the literature was conducted to better inform debate and aid in the development of team-building sessions in a busy radiotherapy department. Abstracts were screened and relevant articles selected if they met the search criteria that included relevancy related to team building, contributory factors on team dynamics, team-based learning, team performance and implication of civility.
Results
A total of 45 articles were included in the final analysis. The majority were from the disciplines of medicine (45%), business (22%) and nursing (18%). Only 3 of the 45 articles (7%) focused on the profession of RT. Most articles discussed more than 1 theme with team dynamics and team building being the most common themes discussed in 16 articles each (36%). Other common themes included teamwork (31%), respect and civility (20%), leadership and hierarchy (11%), medical errors (11%) and team training (11%). Only 3 of the 45 articles (7%) focused on RT.
Conclusion
There is a lack of longitudinal evidence to support the impact of team building sessions to improve team dynamics and promote a positive, cohesive team environment. Specifically within RT, the impact team building has on team dynamics has been under investigation.
Highlights
High-quality patient care can be linked to team collaboration and cohesiveness. Changing the culture within a team and engaging in civility and respect in everyday practice has the potential to improve team dynamics, patient safety, staff and patient satisfaction.
The question of agency has been neglected in social network research, in part because the structural approach to social relations removes consideration of individual volition and action. But recent emphasis on purposive individuals has reignited interest in agency across a range of social network research topics. Our paper provides a brief history of social network agency and an emergent framework based on a thorough review of research published since 2004. This organizing framework distinguishes between an ontology of dualism (actors and social relations as separate domains) and an ontology of duality (actors and social relations as a mutually constituted) at both the individual level and at the social network level. The resulting four perspectives on network agency comprise individual advantage, embeddedness, micro-foundations, and structuration. In conclusion, we address current debates and future directions relating to sources of action and the locus of identity.
At its best, mentoring exemplifies a positive relationship at work in action. Although mentoring can inform the blossoming field of positive relationships at work, not all mentoring relationships are positive; they fall along a continuum ranging from high quality to marginal or even dysfunctional (cf.). Although effective mentoring processes may parallel processes underlying other positive work relationships, there has been little theoretical progress in this aspect of the mentoring field. Most empirical mentoring research in the past 20 years is based on Kram's (1985) rich theoretical work that explains what protégés receive from the relationship. Mentoring theory has yet to fully explain the underlying cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes through which mentoring relationships develop and to explain mentoring from both the protégé's and the mentor's perspective. Consequently, we believe that relationship theory and research is uniquely suited to both inform, and be informed by, mentoring research. This chapter advances our understanding of positive relationships at work by examining the processes underlying effective mentoring relationships. Our specific objectives are to explore (a) how mentoring research may inform positive relationships at work, and (b) the potential for expanding the scope of mentoring theory by linking relational and social cognitive theory to mentoring. Toward these goals, we start by examining four insights that mentoring offers to the positive relationships arena. Next, we outline three limitations in the mentoring field and build a case for rela
This research examines the possibility that the relation between attitude similarity and attraction is mediated by people's attributions of the other's evaluation of them. Using the hypothetical stranger paradigm, we manipulated subject/stranger similarity and the stranger's evaluation of the subject. Auxiliary dependent variables tapped subjects' (N = 226) estimates of the extent to which they were in agreement with the stranger and their perception of the stranger's evaluation of them. The results demonstrated significant effects for both manipulated variables on attraction. Partial correlational analyses demonstrated that the similarity-attraction relation was mediated by subjects' inferences of the stranger's evaluation of them; holding inferred evaluation constant strongly attenuated the similarity-attraction association. Moreover, the inferred evaluation-attraction relation was unaffected when attitude similarity was partialed from it. The correlational pattern is contrary to that put forward by Byrne (1971) and suggests a reconsideration of the conventional interpretation of the similarity-attraction relation.
Changes in the values and careers of particularly younger employees and changes in organizations, including the reduction of hierarchical levels and greater use of teams and matrix structures-combined with new communication technologies and more social networking-have produced calls for new organization theories for these new realities. Using organizational power and influence as a focus, I argue that fundamental theoretical processes remain largely unchanged in their explanatory power, in part because such phenomena can be linked to survival advantages. The new workers-new work arguments are consistent with the continuing emphasis on novelty and theoretical innovation in the organization sciences, an emphasis that, while promulgated in virtually all the journals, may poorly serve the development of reliable and valid knowledge and hinder our ability to provide useful advice for both organizations and their employees.
We integrate moral disengagement, social identification, and social norms theories to
develop, test, and replicate a model that explains how and when envy is associated
with social undermining. In Study 1, a two-wave study of hospital employees, results
support the prediction that the mediated effect of envy on social undermining behavior
through moral disengagement is stronger when employees have low social identification
with coworkers. Study 2, a four-wave, multilevel study of student teams, shows
that the indirect effect of envy on social undermining through moral disengagement is
stronger in teams with low team identification and high team undermining norms.
Which comes first—team social networks or emergent team states (e.g., team climate)? We argue that team members' social network ties and team members' climate perceptions coevolve over time as a function of six reciprocal and co-occurring processes. We test our conceptual framework in a 10-month longitudinal study of perceptions of team psychological safety and social network ties in 69 work teams and find considerable support for our hypotheses. Our main results suggest that perceptions of psychological safety predict network ties. The more psychologically safe team members perceive their team to be, the mòre likely they are to ask their teammates for advice and to see them as friends, and the less likely they are to report difficult relationships with them. At the same time, network ties predict psychological safety. Team members adopt their friends' and advisors' perceptions of the team's psychological safety and reject the perceptions of those with whom they report a difficult relationship. Our framework and findings suggest that conceptual models and tests of unidirectional or team-level effects are likely to substantially misrepresent the mechanisms by which network ties and emergent team states coevolve.
High-quality connections (HQCs) are short-term, dyadic interactions that are positive in terms of the
subjective experience of the connected individuals and the structural features of the connection. Although
previous research has shown that HQCs are associated with individual and organizational outcomes, we
advance theory by identifying cognitive, emotional, and behavioral mechanisms and aspects of the context
that build and strengthen HQCs in organizations. We discuss the implications of uncovering these
mechanisms for understanding processes such as relational formation and relational resilience, relational
theories such as exchange theory, organizational moderators for these mechanisms, and the implications
for individual agency. We close the chapter with suggestions for selecting methods and research designs
that will enhance our understanding of the development and impact of HQCs at work
This article examines how different personality types create and benefit from social networks in organizations. Using data from a 116-member high-technology firm, we tested how self-monitoring orientation and network position related to work performance. First, chameleon-like high self-monitors were more likely than true-to-themselves low self-monitors to occupy central positions in social networks. Second, for high (but not for low) self-monitors, longer service in the organization related to the occupancy of strategically advantageous network positions. Third, self-monitoring and centrality in social networks independently predicted individuals' workplace performance. The results paint a picture of people shaping the networks that constrain and enable performance.
This article presents a description and preliminary evaluation of a nationwide initiative by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) called Civility, Respect, and Engagement in the Workforce (CREW). The goal of CREW is to increase workplace civility as assessed by employee ratings of interpersonal climate in workgroups. Once endorsed by the VHA leadership and adopted by the leaders of particular VHA hospitals, CREW was conducted by local facility coordinators who were trained and supported by the VHA National Center for Organization Development. This article explains the conceptual and operational background of CREW and the approach used to implement the initiative, presents results from two CREW administrations with a total of 23 sites, and reports significant preintervention to postintervention changes in civility at intervention sites as compared to no significant changes at comparison sites within each administration. It discusses these findings in the conceptual (theoretical) and operational (intervention evaluation) context of interventions targeting civility.
Extrapolating from B. L. Fredrickson's (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the authors hypothesized that positive emotions are active ingredients within trait resilience. U.S. college students (18 men and 28 women) were tested in early 2001 and again in the weeks following the September 11th terrorist attacks. Mediational analyses showed that positive emotions experienced in the wake of the attacks - gratitude, interest, love, and so forth - fully accounted for the relations between (a) precrisis resilience and later development of depressive symptoms and (b) precrisis resilience and postcrisis growth in psychological resources. Findings suggest that positive emotions in the aftermath of crises buffer resilient people against depression and fuel thriving, consistent with the broaden-and-build theory. Discussion touches on implications for coping.
Stereotype research emphasizes systematic processes over seemingly arbitrary contents, but content also may prove systematic. On the basis of stereotypes' intergroup functions, the stereotype content model hypothesizes that (a) 2 primary dimensions are competence and warmth, (b) frequent mixed clusters combine high warmth with low competence (paternalistic) or high competence with low warmth (envious), and (c) distinct emotions (pity, envy, admiration, contempt) differentiate the 4 competence-warmth combinations. Stereotypically, (d) status predicts high competence, and competition predicts low warmth. Nine varied samples rated gender, ethnicity, race, class, age, and disability out-groups. Contrary to antipathy models, 2 dimensions mattered, and many stereotypes were mixed, either pitying (low competence, high warmth subordinates) or envying (high competence, low warmth competitors). Stereotypically, status predicted competence, and competition predicted low warmth.
In this article we introduce the concept of workplace incivility and explain how incivility can potentially spiral into increasingly intense aggressive behaviors. To gain an understanding of the mechanisms that underlie an "incivility spiral," we examine what happens at key points: the starting and tipping points. Furthermore, we describe several factors that can facilitate the occurrence and escalation of an incivility spiral and the secondary spirals that can result. We offer research propositions and discuss implications of workplace incivility for researchers and practitioners.
Positive organizational scholarship (POS) is an umbrella concept used to emphasize what elevates and what is inspiring to individuals and organizations by defining the possibilities for positive deviance rather than just improving on the challenging, broken, and needlessly difficult. Just as positive psychology explores optimal individual psychological states rather than pathological ones, POS focuses attention on the generative dynamics in organizations that lead to the development of human strength, foster resiliency in employees, enable healing and restoration, and cultivate extraordinary individual and organizational performance. While POS does not ignore dysfunctional or typical patterns of behavior, it is most interested in the motivations and effects associated with remarkably positive phenomena how they are facilitated, why they work, how they can be identified, and how organizations can capitalize on them. This book is a major resource on POS. Eighty articles review basic principles, empirical evidence, and ideas for future research relating to POS. They focus on using a positive lens to address problems and challenges in organizational life and they draw on POS to expand the domain of other disciplines including ethics, economics, peace, spirituality, social movements, and sustainability.
Two studies were conducted to replicate and extend previous exploratory research by Kipnis, Schmidt, and Wilkinson (1980) on influence tactics and objectives in organizations. A new questionnaire was developed that included measures of important influence tactics and objectives omitted in the earlier research. Whereas the earlier research used only agent self-reports of influence behavior, the present research used both agent and target reports. Differences in downward, lateral, and upward influence attempts were replicated more for data from agents than for data from targets. Direction of influence had a stronger effect on influence objectives than on influence tactics. Despite some differences due to data source and direction of influence, the relative frequency of use for the 8 influence tactics was remarkably similar across conditions. Consultation and rational persuasion were the tactics used most frequently, regardless of the direction of influence.
In this chapter, work relationships are conceptualized as varying in the strength of their emotional attachments. Strong attachments contain emotional weight; members are bound to others through experiences of feeling themselves joined, seen and felt, known, and not alone in the context of their work lives. Weak attachments (and their extreme form, detachments) contain little emotional weight; members are superficially connected, if at all. Organizations routinely consist of relationships among members that vary widely in terms of such attachments, which seem at first glance to vary according to individual and interpersonal factors but are shaped by underlying relational systems. Such systems may be functional or dysfunctional, depending on whether all members have the potential to be attached to others when they experience potentially debilitating anxiety at work. This chapter describes and illustrates, through two case studies, the nature and genesis of dysfunctional relational systems, and offers implications for theory and research into interpersonal relationships at work.
There is growing interest in the role of perspective taking in organizations. Perspective taking has been linked to enhanced interpersonal understanding and the strengthening of social bonds. In this chapter, I integrate research from sociology, communications, and psychology to provide insight into why, when, and how perspective taking facilitates the relational resources of positive connections and trustworthy actions. I introduce the importance of a three-dimensional view of perspective taking for building relational resources and present data validating this conceptualization. I conclude with directions for future research.
Despite civility's natural appeal across societies historically, and recent concern over the lack of it, civility has received little attention in the management literature, and there are relatively few empirical studies. In this chapter, I review empirical findings on civility and incivility. I highlight the benefits of civility and the costs of incivility on individual outcomes, witnesses, teams, organizations, and customers. I discuss the effects of civility and incivility on health, stress, performance, creativity, helpfulness, team effectiveness, and the organization's bottom line. Then, I highlight practical applications of civility in the workplace. Finally, I close with recommendations for future research.
Recent research suggests that people obtain complex, useful knowledge from other people with whom they work closely and frequently (i.e., strong ties). Yet there has been only limited systematic empirical work examining why strong ties are important for knowledge transfer. Based on a review of the social network, trust, and knowledge/organizational learning literatures, we propose a model whereby two-party (dyadic) trust mediates the relationship between strong ties and effective knowledge transfer. We tested this model with a two-stage survey in three companies in different countries and found strong support. First, the relationship between strong ties and effective knowledge transfer (as reported by the knowledge receiver) was mediated by competence- and benevolence-based trust. Second, once we controlled for these two dimensions of trust, it was actually weak ties that provided the most useful knowledge. This latter finding is consistent with prior research suggesting that weak ties provide access to non-redundant information. Third, we also found that competence-based trust was especially important for the transfer of complex (tacit) knowledge. Implications are drawn for the social network and knowledge/organizational learning literatures as well as for management practice.
We develop and test a multilevel theory explaining how patterns of interpersonal perceptions explain the emergence of informal leadership structures in groups. At the group level, we hypothesize that the network pattern of competence and warmth perceptions among group members determines the amount of leadership exhibited (leadership structure density) and the degree to which the emergent leadership structure is centralized or shared (leadership structure centralization). We then identify two individual-level mechanisms underlying these group-level effects: (a) individuals' identification with the group and (b) the differentiation of leader-prototypical roles within the group. Using social network analysis, we test these hypotheses in a sample of 255 MBA consulting teams working full time on projects in 41 different countries over seven weeks. Our findings establish the emergent nature of leadership structures in self-managing teams and foreground interpersonal perceptions as an explanation for why emergent, informal leadership structures vary across teams.
The Key to Effective Communication Communication is essential in a healthy organization. But all too often when we interact with people—especially those who report to us—we simply tell them what we think they need to know. This shuts them down. To generate bold new ideas, to avoid disastrous mistakes, to develop agility and flexibility, we need to practice Humble Inquiry. Ed Schein defines Humble Inquiry as “the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person.” In this seminal work, Schein contrasts Humble Inquiry with other kinds of inquiry, shows the benefits Humble Inquiry provides in many different settings, and offers advice on overcoming the cultural, organizational, and psychological barriers that keep us from practicing it.
The manner in which the concept of reciprocity is implicated in functional theory is explored, enabling a reanalysis of the concepts of "survival" and "exploitation." The need to distinguish between the concepts of complementarity and reciprocity is stressed. Distinctions are also drawn between (1) reciprocity as a pattern of mutually contingent exchange of gratifications, (2) the existential or folk belief in reciprocity, and (3) the generalized moral norm of reciprocity. Reciprocity as a moral norm is analyzed; it is hypothesized that it is one of the universal "principal components" of moral codes. As Westermarck states, "To requite a benefit, or to be grateful to him who bestows it, is probably everywhere, at least under certain circumstances, regarded as a duty. This is a subject which in the present connection calls for special consideration." Ways in which the norm of reciprocity is implicated in the maintenance of stable social systems are examined.
Two conditions that promote attraction between members of a dyad are perceived similarity of alter to self and interpersonal congruency, a state existing when perceived self and self as ego imagines he is perceived by alter are congruent. These conditions were studied by having subjects describe themselves and their best friend of the same sex on ten ranking scales for social needs. Analysis of these data, conducted so as to control for possible artifacts, provided significant support for perceived similarity and interpersonal congruency as correlates of interpersonal attraction.
We describe a hybrid relational bureaucratic form with structures that embed three processes of reciprocal interrelating—relational coproduction, relational coordination, and relational leadership—into the roles of customers, workers, and managers. We show how these role-based relationships of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect foster participants' attentiveness to the situation and to one another, enabling the caring, timely, and knowledgeable responses found in the relational form, along with the scalability, replicability, and sustainability found in the bureaucratic form. Through these role-based relationships, relational bureaucracy promotes universalistic norms of caring for particular others.
Using appraisal theory, this research examined targets' emotional responses to workplace incivility, and how these responses impact targets' behavioral responses. Targets who reported greater incivility reported greater anger, fear, and sadness. Targets' anger was associated with more direct aggression against the instigators; targets' fear was associated with indirect aggression against instigators, absenteeism, and exit; and targets' sadness was associated with absenteeism. Status moderated the effects of fear and sadness. Our results underscore the need for organizations to manage civility so that they and their employees can avoid substantial direct and indirect costs associated with workplace incivility. At a broader level, our results suggest the importance of developing greater awareness about the harmful effects of fear and sadness in the workplace.
Two traits – warmth and competence – govern social judgments of individuals and groups, and these judgments shape people's emotions and behaviors. The present chapter describes the causes and consequences of warmth and competence judgments; how, when and why they determine significant professional and organizational outcomes, such as hiring, employee evaluation, and allocation of tasks and resources. Warmth and competence represent the central dimensions of group stereotypes, the majority of which are ambivalent – characterizing groups as warm but incompetent (e.g., older people, working mothers) or competent but cold (e.g., “model minorities,” female leaders), in turn eliciting ambivalent feelings (i.e., pity and envy, respectively) and actions toward members of those groups. However, through nonverbal behaviors that subtly communicate warmth and competence information, people can manage the impressions they make on colleagues, potential employers, and possible investors. Finally, we discuss important directions for future research, such as investigating the causes and consequences of how organizations and industries are evaluated on warmth and competence.
The present study was an empirical analysis designed to measure the social networks of master of business administration (M.B.A.) students and the networks' relationships to attitudinal and performance outcomes. Results from 250 students indicated that centrality in friendship, communication, and adversarial networks affected both student attitudes and grades. Moreover, an analysis of 62 assigned teams showed that relationships within and between teams also had significant effects on student perceptions of team effectiveness and objective team performance. Implications for student networks and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Detailed microsociological studies of everyday life activity raise the challenge of making macrosociological concepts fully empirical by traslating them into aggregates of micro-events. Micro-evidence and theoretical critiques indicate that human cognitive capacity is limited. Hence actor facing complex contingencies rely largely upon tacit assumptions and routine. The routines of physical property and organizational authority are upheld by actors' tacit monitoring of social coalitions. Individuals continuously negotiate such coalitions in chains of interaction rituals in which conversations create symbols of group membership. Every encounter is a marketpace in which individuals tacitly match conversational and emotional resources acquire from previous encounters. Individuals are motivated to move toward those ritual encounters in which their microresources pay the greatest emotional returns until they reach personal equilibrium points at which their emotional returns stabilize or decline. Large-scale cha...
Part 1 When talent isn't enough/of astronauts and executives: the derailment conspiracy. Part 2 Developing executive talent/experience as teacher: linking business strategy and executive development assessing potential - is talent what is, or what could be? Who gets what job - the heart of development catalyst for development. Part 3 Taking action/making executive development a strategic advantage taking charge of your own development.