Published in

Taylor & Francis (Routledge), European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 4(22), p. 461-475

DOI: 10.1080/1359432x.2012.654605

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Lack of reciprocity, narcissism, anger, and instigated workplace incivility: A moderated mediation model

Journal article published in 2013 by Laurenz L. Meier ORCID, Norbert K. Semmer
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The goal of the present research was to examine antecedents of uncivil behaviour towards coworkers and supervisors. Based on Spector’s model (e.g., Spector & Fox, 2005a), we investigated the role of work characteristics (lack of reciprocity in the relationship with one’s organization), personality (narcissism), and work-related anger simultaneously. We predicted that anger mediates the relationship between lack of reciprocity and incivility, and that this mediation is particularly strong among narcissistic employees (moderated mediation). As predicted, in our sample of 197 employees, anger—at least partially—mediated the relationship between lack of reciprocity and incivility. Moreover, this indirect effect was stronger among narcissists. Results further showed that narcissism moderated the first part (lack of reciprocity ! anger) but not the second part (anger ! incivility) of the mediation chain. Examining both mediation and moderation in a unified framework shed light on the issue of where in the process moderation occurs, thus deepening our understanding of the interplay between work characteristics and personality. In addition to anger, our results suggest mediating processes that do not require strong affect may be characteristic especially for uncivil behaviour as compared to more intense forms of counterproductive behaviour.