Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhtm Job search behavior explained through perceived tolerance for workplace incivility, cynicism and income level: A moderated mediation model Huda A. Megeirhi a , Manuel Alector Ribeiro b,c,∗ , Kyle Maurice Woosnam c,d a University of Benghazi, Libya b School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK c School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa d Natural Resources Recreation and Tourism, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, 180 East Green Street, Athens, GA, 30602-2152, USA ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Organizational tolerance Workplace incivility Job search behavior Employee cynicism Income Jordan ABSTRACT This study aims to propose and examine a research model that explores how income level can moderate the mediating relationship between organizational tolerance workplace incivility and job search behavior through employee cynicism within the hotel industry. As such, the theoretical framework and non-western study context are each a novel consideration. Data were collected from 331 employees of 5-star hotels within Jordan, whereby structural equation modeling was adopted to test the relationships between constructs. The analysis revealed that when employees perceive a high level of organizational tolerance for workplace incivility, they reinforce cynical beliefs and increase their job search behavior. Results provide empirical support for income moderating the indirect relationships (via employee cynicism) between organization workplace incivility and job search behavior. This relationship is stronger among employees with lower levels of income. Practical implications concerning ways to improve managers' knowledge of workplace incivility and more operational ways of handling confict are discussed. 1. Introduction In an increasingly competitive global economy, it is now more evident than ever that the success of business frms stems from the human capital they possess (Friedman, 2005). This interest in human capital has continued to prompt organizational behavior research that identifes and develops positive assets while at the same time, explores and reduces negative outcomes in order to improve employees' per- formance (French & Holden, 2012). One construct at the heart of this progressive research is workplace incivility. Andersson (1996) has pointed out that workplace incivility, defned as employees' lack of regard for one another (Pearson & Porath, 2005), can be a negative source of job stress. Such incivility is perceived as a low-intensity stress similar to day-to-day frustrations individuals ex- perience (Lim & Lee, 2011). Despite the fact that workplace incivility has been recently integrated into an extensive narrative review (Schilpzand, De Pater, & Erez, 2016), management's responses to in- civility is considered ‘spotty’ (Pearson & Porath, 2005). Pearson and Porath also revealed that managers often neglect to address incivility as they oversee daily activities among their employees. In fact, an earlier work by the same authors revealed that only 20% of employees per- ceive their organization's response to workplace incivility (Pearson & Porath, 2004). As Sguera, Bagozzi, Huy, Boss, and Boss (2016) stated: Surprisingly, despite the spread of incivility and its negative con- sequences, we know very little about efective organizational responses to this phenomenon from a victim's perspective … research has [only] proposed strategies to reduce workplace incivility relying on means such as zero-tolerance expectations, teaching about incivility and civi- lity (p. 124). Pearson, Andersson and Porath (2000) in their study found that 75% of employees who experienced incivility were not satisfed with how their top management was known to address such incivility, thus deciding not to levy an ofcial complaint. Similarly, the impact of such blindness by leaders can also afect witnesses and coworkers who feel frustrated when their organization tolerates workplace incivility or is reluctant to deter instigators. Furthermore, Torres, van Nieker and Orlowski (2017) stated that when incivility is tolerated and considered a part of an organization's culture, further forms of incivility are likely to follow through employee-to-customer relations. This may very well serve to explain how incivility spirals emerge (Andersson & Pearson, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.05.011 Received 1 August 2019; Received in revised form 28 April 2020; Accepted 27 May 2020 ∗ Corresponding author. School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, UK. E-mail addresses: hudaelmegeirhi@googlemail.com (H.A. Megeirhi), m.ribeiro@surrey.ac.uk (M.A. Ribeiro), woosnam@gmail.com (K.M. Woosnam). Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 44 (2020) 88–97 1447-6770/ © 2020 CAUTHE - COUNCIL FOR AUSTRALASIAN TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY EDUCATION. Published by Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved. T