The Effect of Workplace Incivility on Organizational Cynicism

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Workplace incivility, marked by subtle deviant actions that contravene mutually respectful norms, has emerged as a widespread issue facing today’s organizations. While previous research has established the adverse consequences of workplace incivility for employees’ attitudes and behaviors, comparatively little effort has been directed toward uncovering the psychological processes that explain how workplace incivility gives rise to organizational cynicism. Organizational cynicism, reflecting employees’ negative beliefs, emotions, and behavioral tendencies toward the organization, can undermine organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. To fill this research void, the current study investigates the impact of workplace incivility on organizational cynicism by considering the mediating functions of organizational psychological ownership and psychological entitlement, while also examining the moderating role of ethical work climate. Grounded in Conservation of Resources Theory, Social Exchange Theory, and Attribution Theory, a moderated dual‑mediation framework is put forward to elucidate how workplace incivility shapes employees’ attitudes toward their organization and to identify the boundary conditions under which these effects might be attenuated.
A questionnaire survey was administered to gather data from 461 employees employed in China’s service industry. SPSS 27 and AMOS 26 were employed to analyze the data. Reliability and validity tests demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties for all measurement scales, and the hypothesized model demonstrated a satisfactory level of fit with the observed data. We performed hierarchical regression analyses along with bootstrap resampling techniques to assess the direct, mediating, moderating, and moderated mediation effects.
The results show that workplace incivility exerts a substantial positive impact on organizational cynicism while demonstrating significant negative influences on both organizational psychological ownership and psychological entitlement. Employees who frequently experience uncivil treatment are more likely to develop negative evaluations of their organization while simultaneously experiencing diminished feelings of ownership, belonging, and deservedness within the workplace. Furthermore, organizational psychological ownership and psychological entitlement were found to independently mediate the relationship between workplace incivility and organizational cynicism. These results show that workplace incivility promotes cynical attitudes by eroding employees’ psychological resources and weakening their positive connections with the organization.
The findings further indicate that ethical work climate constitutes a key contextual factor influencing how employees respond to workplace incivility. More precisely, ethical work climate positively moderates the links between workplace incivility and both organizational psychological ownership and psychological entitlement, thereby mitigating the adverse effect of incivility on these psychological resources. Nevertheless, the predicted moderating role of ethical work climate in the direct linkage between workplace incivility and organizational cynicism was not corroborated. Additionally, ethical work climate significantly attenuated the indirect influence of workplace incivility on organizational cynicism via organizational psychological ownership, whereas its moderating effect on the PE‑mediated pathway was not statistically meaningful.
The present investigation offers multiple contributions to the organizational behavior literature. First, it enhances our comprehension of workplace incivility’s outcomes by identifying organizational psychological ownership and psychological entitlement as two critical psychological mechanisms that underlie the emergence of organizational cynicism. Second, it draws upon Conservation of Resources Theory, Social Exchange Theory, and Attribution Theory to offer an integrative account of how resource depletion, exchange perceptions, and attribution processes jointly shape employees’ responses to interpersonal mistreatment. Third, it underscores the boundary‑setting function of ethical work climate, showing that ethical organizational environments can partially offset the detrimental consequences associated with workplace incivility.
From a practical standpoint, the results highlight the critical need to minimize workplace incivility while simultaneously cultivating a robust ethical work climate. Organizations should implement fair management practices, strengthen ethical standards, encourage respectful interpersonal interactions, and enhance employees’ psychological ownership and entitlement through transparent communication and supportive organizational policies. Such efforts can effectively reduce organizational cynicism, promote positive employee attitudes, and contribute to sustainable organizational development.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I Introduction 1
• 1.1 Research Background 1
• 1.2 Research Purpose and Significance 8
• 1.2.1 Research Purpose 8
• 1.2.2 Research Significance 10
• 1.3 Research Innovations 11
• 1.4 Research Methods and Research Content 15
• 1.4.1 Research Methods 15
• 1.4.2 Research Content 16
• II Literature Review 18
• 2.1 Workplace Incivility 18
• 2.1.1 The Definition and Development of Workplace Incivility 18
• 2.1.2 Dimensions and Measurement of Workplace Incivility 20
• 2.1.3 Research on Workplace Incivility 22
• 2.2 Organizational Cynicism 24
• 2.2.1 The Definition and Development of Organizational Cynicism 24
• 2.2.2 Dimensions and Measurement of Organizational Cynicism 27
• 2.2.3 Research on Organizational Cynicism 29
• 2.3 Organizational Psychological Ownership 33
• 2.3.1 The Definition and Development of Organizational Psychological Ownership 33
• 2.3.2 Dimensions and Measurement of Organizational Psychological Ownership 35
• 2.3.3 Research on Organizational Psychological Ownership 36
• 2.4 Psychological Entitlement 40
• 2.4.1 The Definition and Development of Psychological Entitlement 40
• 2.4.2 Dimensions and Measurement of Psychological Entitlement 43
• 2.4.3 Research on Psychological Entitlement 44
• 2.5 Ethical Work Climate 47
• 2.5.1 Definition and Development of Ethical Work Climate 47
• 2.5.2 Dimensions and Measurement of Ethical Work Climate 49
• 2.5.3 Related Research on Ethical Work Climate 52
• III Theoretical Framework and Hypothesis Development 56
• 3.1 Theoretical Foundations 56
• 3.1.1 Conservation of Resources Theory 56
• 3.1.2 Social Exchange Theory 57
• 3.1.3 Attribution Theory 58
• 3.2 Research Hypotheses 59
• 3.2.1 Workplace Incivility and Organizational Cynicism 59
• 3.2.2 Workplace Incivility, Organizational Psychological Ownership and Psychological Entitlement 61
• 3.2.3 Organizational Psychological Ownership, Psychological Entitlement and Organizational Cynicism 67
• 3.2.4 The Mediating Role of Organizational Psychological Ownership 71
• 3.2.5 The Mediating Role of Psychological Entitlement 73
• 3.2.6 The Moderating Role of Ethical Work Climate 74
• 3.2.7 Moderated Mediation Effect 77
• 3.3 Model 78
• IV Research Design 79
• 4.1 Questionnaire Design and Sample 79
• 4.1.1 Questionnaire Design 79
• 4.1.2 Sample Selection 81
• 4.1.3 Data Collection 83
• 4.2 Measurement Tools 83
• 4.2.1 Workplace Incivility 88
• 4.2.2 Organizational Cynicism 90
• 4.2.3 Organizational Psychological Ownership 91
• 4.2.4 Psychological Entitlement 93
• 4.2.5 Ethical Work Climate 94
• 4.2.6 Control Variables 97
• V Data Analysis 99
• 5.1 Sample Structure 99
• 5.2 Descriptive Statistics 103
• 5.3 Reliability Analysis 104
• 5.4 Validity Analysis 105
• 5.4.1 Construct Validity 107
• 5.4.2 Convergent Validity 108
• 5.4.3 Discriminant Validity 111
• 5.5 Common Method Bias Test 112
• 5.6 Correlation Analysis 115
• VI Hypothesis Testing 116
• 6.1 Direct Effect Tests 116
• 6.1.1 The Impact of Workplace Incivility 117
• 6.1.2 Effects of Employee Psychological States and Attitudes on Organizational Cynicism 119
• 6.2 Mediation Effect Testing 121
• 6.2.1 Testing Mediation Effects Using Hierarchical Regression 121
• 6.2.2 Testing Mediation Effects Using the Bootstrap Method 123
• 6.3 Moderation Effect Testing 124
• 6.3.1 Testing the Moderation Effect Using Hierarchical Regression 124
• 6.3.2 Testing the Moderation Effect Using the Bootstrap Method 127
• 6.4 Moderated Mediation 129
• 6.5 Summary of Hypothesis Tests 131
• VII Research Conclusions and Future Directions 132
• 7.1 Research Conclusions 132
• 7.1.1 Direct Effects of Workplace Incivility on Employees ’ Psychological States and Attitudes 133
• 7.1.2 The Dual Mediating Effects of Organizational Psychological Ownership and Psychological Entitlement 135
• 7.1.3 The Moderating Effect of Ethical Work Climate 138
• 7.1.4 Moderated Mediation Effects 139
• 7.1.5 Overall Summary of Hypothesis Testing Results 141
• 7.2 Research Implications 142
• 7.2.1 Theoretical Implications 142
• 7.2.2 Practical Implications 146
• 7.3 Limitations and Future Directions 151
• 7.3.1 Research Limitations 151
• 7.3.2 Future Research Directions 153
• References 155