Contrapower incivility: contents and antecedents

Ajayi, Festus A. (2025) Contrapower incivility: contents and antecedents. Doctoral (PhD) thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Workplace incivility is a low-intensity and subtle form of workplace mistreatment, which may have deleterious impacts on its targets. Incivility researchers have extensively studied its frequency, target demographics, contributing factors, and effects. However, most of this research has centered on subordinate experiences. The incivility experiences of those who lead or manage the work of others have remained largely underexplored. The current thesis addressed this understudied area by looking at the incivility experiences of leaders from their subordinates (a phenomenon referred to as contrapower incivility and rooted in earlier scholarship on contrapower sexual harassment). The objective of the current research was to examine the contents of contrapower incivility (i.e., the behaviors that constitute contrapower incivility) and their antecedents (i.e., factors responsible for contrapower incivility). To achieve these objectives, I conducted three studies. In Study 1, I used a qualitative interview-based research design to explore the behaviors that comprise contrapower incivility and the factors that influence them. Using thematic analysis, Study 1 showed that the behaviors constituting contrapower incivility include: insubordination, competence questioning, information denial and conspiracy against the leader. Also, Study 1 revealed the leader’s behaviors, subordinate intrapersonal factors, and perceptions of incivility climate as the most common factors responsible for contrapower incivility. Moreover, Study 1 showed some contrapower incivility behaviors not captured in the existing incivility scale (i.e., the Workplace Incivility Scale). Thus, Study 2 was focused on developing and validating a contrapower incivility scale. Using contents from Study 1, 13 unique items were validated as a measure of contrapower incivility. In Study 3, I used an experimental research design to causally test the antecedents of contrapower incivility. The result of Study 3 showed that subordinate intrapersonal factors and perception of incivility climate increase contrapower incivility. However, the hypothesis that the perception of a leader’s negative behavior will increase contrapower incivility was not supported. Implications are discussed.

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