Personal and Workgroup Incivility: Impact on Work and Health Outcomes Sandy Lim Singapore Management University Lilia M. Cortina University of Michigan Vicki J. Magley University of Connecticut This article develops a theoretical model of the impact of workplace incivility on employees’ occupational and psychological well-being. In Study 1, the authors tested the model on 1,158 employees, finding that satisfaction with work and supervisors, as well as mental health, partially mediated effects of personal incivility on turnover intentions and physical health; this process did not vary by gender. Study 2 cross- validated and extended these results on an independent sample of 271 employees, showing negative effects of workgroup incivility that emerged over and above the impact of personal incivility. In both studies, all results held while controlling for general job stress. Implications for organizational science and practice are discussed. Keywords: workplace incivility, occupational health, workplace mistreatment, well-being Over the past decade, workplace aggression has garnered in- creasing interest in the social and organizational sciences. In researching such conduct as bullying (e.g., Rayner, 1997), psycho- logical aggression (e.g., Baron & Neuman, 1996), and interper- sonal aggression (Glomb & Liao, 2003), scholars have focused on behaviors that involve a clear sense of intentional hostility from the aggressor. In contrast, the current study addresses workplace incivility, a “milder” form of interpersonal mistreatment in which intentionality is less apparent. Unlike other antisocial work behav- iors, such as harassment or sabotage, incivility typically does not warrant legal attention. Yet because of the lack of sanctions, organizations might often dismiss incivility as transient and trivial conduct that merits no intervention. We aim in this study to dispel these notions by demonstrating that seemingly minor instances of disrespect can have a measurable adverse impact on the workforce. Specifically, this study extends the nascent literature on workplace incivility in three primary ways. First, we propose a model of medi- ating processes that link incivility to key outcomes in occupational health psychology. Although it might seem obvious that experiences of mistreatment should have negative outcomes, it is important to understand why and how such everyday forms of disrespect can have wide-ranging costs. We help advance the incivility-outcome literature by grounding our model more extensively in theory (e.g., affective events theory; dysempowerment theory) and by identifying both direct and indirect pathways of harm. Second, extant research on workplace incivility has been restricted to a single level of analysis, focusing primarily on individual instigators and targets. This has likely led to the assumption that incivility is an individual-level problem that is limited to the parties directly involved. We challenge this assumption by examining incivility at the group level and inves- tigate whether its negative impact extends beyond targeted individuals to other employees who work alongside them. Finally, theory sug- gests that women demand stronger norms of respect than men do because of enhanced interpersonal sensitivity. Although incivility represents a violation of interpersonal norms of respect, past research has not examined whether men and women experience the effects of workplace incivility differentially; we address this question in the current study. What Is Workplace Incivility? In their seminal work, Andersson and Pearson (1999, p. 457) defined workplace incivility as “low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target, in violation of workplace norms for mutual respect. Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of regard for others.” Examples of uncivil conduct include sarcasm, disparaging tones and remarks, hostile stares, and the “silent treatment.” The three key characteristics of workplace incivility, then, are norm viola- tion, ambiguous intent, and low intensity (Pearson, Andersson, & Wegner, 2001). We discuss each in turn. 1 1 More in-depth examinations of the similarities and dissimilarities be- tween the constructs of workplace incivility and other forms of antisocial work behavior can be found in Andersson and Pearson (1999), Cortina (in press), Lim and Cortina (2005), and Pearson, Andersson, and Porath (2005). Sandy Lim, School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management Univer- sity; Lilia M. Cortina, Departments of Psychology and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan; Vicki J. Magley, Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Academy of Management Meeting in August, 2004 in New Orleans, Louisiana. We thank collaborators at the University of Illinois and DePaul University for their assistance with this research. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sandy Lim, Singapore Management University, School of Social Sciences, 90 Stamford, Road, Singapore 178903. E-mail: sandylim@smu.edu.sg Journal of Applied Psychology Copyright 2008 by the American Psychological Association 2008, Vol. 93, No. 1, 95–107 0021-9010/08/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.1.95 95