When Disrespect Breeds Defiance: How Coworker Incivility Lowers Job Performance

What is it about?

This study examines how coworker incivility—disrespectful or dismissive treatment among colleagues—reduces employees’ job performance ratings, focusing on how and when this effect occurs. Guided by Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the authors argue that incivility depletes employees’ emotional resources, leading them to engage in deviant work behaviors that harm their organization as a form of retaliation or emotional release. Using multisource, three-wave data from employees and supervisors in Pakistan, the study finds that organizational deviance mediates the link between coworker incivility and job performance. Experiencing or witnessing incivility prompts employees to reduce effort or act counterproductively, which lowers performance ratings. However, employees with strong ingratiation skills—using tact or charm to maintain positive relations—are less likely to react destructively. This suggests that social adaptability buffers the resource loss caused by incivility. For organizations, these findings underscore the need to address toxic interpersonal dynamics that silently erode performance. Training employees in positive impression management can help counteract the harmful ripple effects of disrespectful behavior, while fostering a climate of mutual respect reduces the likelihood of deviance-based performance decline.

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Photo by maks_d on Unsplash

Photo by maks_d on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research is unique in uncovering organizational deviance as the behavioral pathway through which coworker incivility impairs performance evaluations, while identifying ingratiation skills as a critical personal resource that weakens this negative process. It contributes to COR theory by showing how social and behavioral mechanisms transform interpersonal mistreatment into performance consequences. Conducted in Pakistan, the study offers timely insights into workplaces where relational harmony and social standing are especially valued. It highlights that beyond formal systems, the social undercurrents of respect and tact strongly shape performance outcomes, emphasizing the importance of nurturing both interpersonal civility and adaptive social skills to sustain organizational well-being.