Back to Search
Start Over
Can leader-member exchange social comparison elicit uncivil employee behavior? The buffering role of aggression-preventive supervisor behavior
- Source :
- International Journal of Conflict Management. 32:422-444
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Emerald, 2020.
-
Abstract
- PurposeThis study aims to examine the role of leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) perceptions in triggering the instigation of uncivil behavior in the workplace. This study also explores the intervening role of envy and the buffering role of aggression-preventive supervisor behavior within the proposed relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected in two phases separated by an interval of four weeks. The final sample consisted of 224 full-time white-collar employees working in five large pharmaceutical manufacturing organizations in India.FindingsThe findings indicate that employees’ subjective perceptions of being involved in poorer-quality LMX relationships than their workgroup members generate envy, which, in turn, evokes them to instigate uncivil behaviors onto those higher-LMX counterparts. The indirect effect of LMX social comparison on instigated workplace incivility through envy gets attenuated when supervisors engage in aggression-preventive behavior.Practical implicationsTo protect organizations from the financial and productivity losses associated with incivility, supervisors are encouraged to exhibit aggression-preventive behavior if they form differentiated exchange relationships with the subordinates in their teams. Supervisors are further advised to avoid the altogether neglect of lower-LMX subordinates as doing so may give rise to negative emotions (envy) and behavior (incivility) among them.Originality/valueThis study expands the limited body of knowledge on the antecedents of uncivil employee behavior in the workplace. Specifically, it unveils that incivility toward coworkers may be stemming from unfavorable LMX social comparisons and ensuing negative emotions such as envy. It also offers insights on reducing uncivil behavior by highlighting that the impact of LMXSC and envy on incivility instigation gets buffered in the presence of aggression-preventive supervisor behavior.
- Subjects :
- Social comparison theory
Aggression
Strategy and Management
Communication
media_common.quotation_subject
05 social sciences
050109 social psychology
Neglect
Body of knowledge
Incivility
Management of Technology and Innovation
0502 economics and business
medicine
Workplace incivility
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Workgroup
medicine.symptom
Psychology
Productivity
Social psychology
050203 business & management
media_common
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 10444068
- Volume :
- 32
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Conflict Management
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........40891f10b0ae3177c5f27d3031c51bc7