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Supervision Incivility and Employee Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Author

Listed:
  • Chang-E Liu

    (Mobile E-Business Collaborative Innovation Center of Hunan Province, Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Mobile Business Intelligence, College of Business Administration, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha 410205, China)

  • Shengxian Yu

    (College of Business Administration, Hunan University of Technology and Business, Changsha 410205, China)

  • Yahui Chen

    (School of Business and Tourism Management, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China)

  • Wei He

    (Scott College of Business, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA)

Abstract

Much of the supervision incivility research has focused on the supervisor-subordinate dyad when examining the effects of supervision incivility on employee outcomes. Our study examines a trickle-down effect of supervision incivility across three hierarchical levels, i.e., from the department leader (middle manager), through group leader (supervisor), and to group members (employees), and how it affects group psychological safety. Drawing on a sample of 346 employees and 78 group leaders in 78 work groups, our research found a negative relationship between department leader incivility and group psychological safety, and that this negative relationship was mediated by group leader incivility and moderated by group leader attribution for performance-promotion or injury-initiation motives. We further discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang-E Liu & Shengxian Yu & Yahui Chen & Wei He, 2020. "Supervision Incivility and Employee Psychological Safety in the Workplace," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-14, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:3:p:840-:d:314035
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mayer, David M. & Kuenzi, Maribeth & Greenbaum, Rebecca & Bardes, Mary & Salvador, Rommel (Bombie), 2009. "How low does ethical leadership flow? Test of a trickle-down model," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-13, January.
    2. Giles Hirst & Fred Walumbwa & Samuel Aryee & Ivan Butarbutar & Chin Jeffery Hui Chen, 2016. "A Multi-level Investigation of Authentic Leadership as an Antecedent of Helping Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 485-499, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jia Xu & Baoguo Xie & Bin Tang, 2020. "Guanxi HRM Practice and Employees’ Occupational Well-Being in China: A Multi-Level Psychological Process," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Antonio Ramón Gómez-García & Cecilia Alexandra Portalanza-Chavarría & Christian Arturo Arias-Ulloa & César Eduardo Espinoza-Samaniego, 2020. "Salaried Workers’ Self-Perceived Health and Psychosocial Risk in Guayaquil, Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Chang-E Liu & Chenhong Hu & Wei Xie & Tingting Liu & Wei He, 2020. "The Moderated-Mediation Effect of Workplace Anxiety and Regulatory Focus in the Relationship between Work-Related Identity Discrepancy and Employee Innovation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-12, August.

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