The Role of Appraisals and Emotions in Understanding Experiences of Workplace Incivility

Theoretically grounded in both the cognitive motivational relational theory of emotions and affect events theory, the present research used multiple analytic techniques and positioned appraisals and emotions as key variables in understanding the experience of incivility at work. Data consisted of survey responses from a stratified random sample of 522 U.S. working adults. K-means cluster analyses revealed interindividual differences in cognitive/emotional responding to workplace incivility experiences. In addition, multiple mediation analyses revealed that optimism and emotionality may play important roles in showing why the experience of incivility is related to job-related outcomes. The results help to advance workplace mistreatment research and suggest possible strategies for organizations to maintain civil working environments.