Reciprocal relationship between workplace incivility and deviant silence—The moderating role of moral attentiveness

Khan, Rahman; Murtaza, Ghulam; Neveu, Jean Pierre; Newman, Alexander

Abstract

In the present study, we examine the reciprocal relationship between employees' perceptions of workplace incivility and their deviant silence. We also explore the moderating role of moral attentiveness on the relationship between workplace incivility and deviant silence. Utilizing three-waves of longitudinal data from 297 full-time employees working in different industrial sectors in the United States, we find support for the reciprocal model as the best fit to the data, thus validating relationships over time between our study variables. Taken together, our results suggest that workplace incivility at T1/T2 significantly predicted deviant silence at T2/T3. The results also reveal that deviant silence at T1/T2 significantly predicted workplace incivility at T2/T3. Importantly, we found that reflective but not perceptual moral attentiveness significantly reduced the negative influence of workplace incivility on deviant silence in subsequent time periods.

Citation

Khan, R., Murtaza, G., Neveu, J. P., & Newman, A. (2022). Reciprocal relationship between workplace incivility and deviant silence—The moderating role of moral attentiveness. Applied Psychology, 71(1), 174-196. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12316

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 11, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 13, 2021
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Deposit Date: Jan 23, 2025
• Journal: Applied Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0269-994X
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-0597
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 174-196
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12316
• Keywords: Workplace incivility, counterproductive work behaviours, Islamic work ethics