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Hostile Attribution Bias and Negative Reciprocity Beliefs Exacerbate Incivility’s Effects on Interpersonal Deviance

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating roles of hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs in the relationship between workplace incivility, as perceived by employees, and their interpersonal deviance. Data were collected using a three-wave survey research design. Participants included 233 employees from a large manufacturing company in China. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the hypothesized relationships. Our study revealed that hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs strengthened the positive relationship between workplace incivility and interpersonal deviance. This relationship was the most positive when both hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs were high. The findings provided evidence that directing employees to depress hostile attribution bias and negative reciprocity beliefs may attenuate the effects of workplace incivility on interpersonal deviance. Implications for theory, research, and management practice are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant code 71202001,71172140) and a “Chen Guang” project (Grant code 12CG44) supported by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Education Development Foundation. The authors would like to thank Wei Wang for his helpful comments on early drafts of this paper. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ho Kwong Kwan, School of International Business Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, P. R. China (Tel: 86-13482520465; E-mail: weicheong2317@hotmail.com).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of International Business Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, 200433, People’s Republic of China

    Long-Zeng Wu, Ho Kwong Kwan & Xiaogang He

  2. Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Haina Zhang

  3. Department of Management, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Randy K. Chiu

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  1. Long-Zeng Wu
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  2. Haina Zhang
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  4. Ho Kwong Kwan
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Correspondence to Ho Kwong Kwan.

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Wu, LZ., Zhang, H., Chiu, R.K. et al. Hostile Attribution Bias and Negative Reciprocity Beliefs Exacerbate Incivility’s Effects on Interpersonal Deviance. J Bus Ethics 120, 189–199 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1658-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1658-6

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