Workplace Incivility
The Nature and Impact of Workplace Incivility
Workplace incivility and bullying disrupt the respectful, collaborative, and effective working relationships essential to health care aides’ safety and quality care provision.
Click on the link below to view an infographic summarizing findings from a research study that examined the nature and impact of workplace incivility in long-term care here in British Columbia.
What is Incivility?
- Also known as micro-aggressions, anti-social behaviour, horizontal hostility.
- Is a low-intensity, deviant act that violates workplace norms or respectful interactions with an ambiguous intent to harm.
- Is one of the most pervasive forms of antisocial behaviour, but its subtlety makes it difficult to detect.
- Can lead others to adopt similar behaviours over time, creating a downward spiral that can result in a toxic workplace.
- Is more likely to be passive, indirect, and verbal in nature.
- Doesn’t rise to the same level as bullying or harassment which is prohibited in the workplace by law.
What is Bullying?
- Is characterized by an escalating, hostile relationship
- Is frequent (e.g., occurs 1-2 times per week) and persistent (e.g., occurs over a minimum 6-month period)
- Is openly hostile and negative
- Is more likely to be active, direct, and physical in nature
Consequences of Workplace Incivility
The consequences of workplace incivility are far-reaching, impacting both the individual and the organization.
They include:
- Decreased job satisfaction
- Decreased organizational commitment and engagement
- Decreased co-worker support and collaboration
- Decreased engagement with work
- Increased burnout
- Increased illness-related absence and intent to leave (the organization and the health care sector)
References
- Andersson LM, Pearson CM. (1999). Tit for tat? the spiraling effect of incivility in the workplace. Academy of Management Review, 24(3):452-471.
- Agervold, M, Mikkelsen EG. (2004). Relationships between bullying, psychosocial work environment and individual stress reactions. Work & Stress, 18(4):336-351.
- Cortina LM, Kabat-Farr D, Magley VJ, Nelson K. (2017). Researching rudeness: The past, present, and future of the science of incivility. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3):299.
- Daly T, Banerjee A, Armstrong P, Armstrong H, Szebehely M. (2011). Lifting the ‘violence veil’: Examining working conditions in long-term care facilities using iterative mixed methods. Canadian Journal on Aging, 30(2):271-284.
- Ekici D, Beder A. (2014). The effects of workplace bullying on physicians and nurses. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 31(4):24.
- Evans D. (2017). Categorizing the magnitude and frequency of exposure to uncivil behaviors: A new approach for more meaningful interventions. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 49(2):214-222.
- Lim S, Lee A. (2011). Work and nonwork outcomes of workplace incivility: Does family support help? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 16(1):95.
- Rush KL, Adamack M, Gordon J, Janke R. (2014). New graduate nurse transition programs: Relationships with bullying and access to support. Contemporary Nurse, 48(2):219-228.
- Ortega A, Christensen KB, Hogh A, Rugulies R, Borg V. (2011). One‐year prospective study on the effect of workplace bullying on long‐term sickness absence. Journal of Nursing Management, 19(6):752-759.
- Torkelson E, Holm K, Bäckström M, Schad E. (2016). Factors contributing to the perpetration of workplace incivility: The importance of organizational aspects and experiencing incivility from others. Work & Stress, 30(2):115-131.
- Trépanier S, Fernet C, Austin S. (2013). Workplace bullying and psychological health at work: The mediating role of satisfaction of needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Work & Stress, 27(2):123-140.
