Workplace incivilities: the role of interest conflicts, social closure and organizational chaos

Vincent J. Roscigno, Randy Hodson and Steven H. Lopez
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Vincent J. Roscigno: Ohio State University, roscigno.1@osu.edu
Randy Hodson: Ohio State University, hodson.8@sociology.osu.edu
Steven H. Lopez: Ohio State University, lopez.137@osu.edu

Work, Employment & Society, 2009, vol. 23, issue 4, 747-773

Abstract: Workplace incivility — that is, negative relational dimensions of employment with consequences for worker integrity and dignity — affects millions every year. In this article, the ‘organizational misbehaviour’ and ‘workplace chaos’ literatures offer building blocks for a conception wherein workplace incivility is viewed as emanating from the joint and sometimes interconnected influence of organizational processes and status-based social closure. The resulting multi-method analyses draw on coded information on incivility, organizational context, and relational and status dynamics from a large population of organizational ethnographies (N=204). Analyses reveal that all forms of incivility except sexual harassment are rooted in organizational chaos. Qualitative re-immersion into these ethnographic accounts provides further insights into how conflicts endemic to paid employment and broader social closure projects surrounding class, race, and gender play a role as well, albeit often in distinct ways.

Keywords: abuse; bullying; co-worker relations; customer conflict; incivility; misbehaviour; sexual harassment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:747-773

DOI: 10.1177/0950017009344875

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