Well, That Was a Rude Exchange! A Multi-Study Examination of Trust as a Mediator Between Cyberbullying or Cyber Incivility Victimization and Relational Outcomes at Work

Abstract

Guided by social exchange theory, we conducted two experiments and a longitudinal field study to examine the role of trust as a mediator between victimization from two forms of online mistreatment (cyber-incivility and cyberbullying) and three relational outcomes: supervisor satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). In Experiment 1, 90 employees were randomly assigned to read email exchanges that contained either uncivil, cyberbullying, or neutral messages between a co-worker and a team leader. Results indicated that participants perceived the leader as less trustworthy when cyber-incivility or cyberbullying messages were communicated. In Experiment 2, 136 employees were randomly assigned to read a series of email exchanges between a co-worker and a team leader that were either low or high in trust. Participants reported greater satisfaction and likelihood of engaging in OCBs and lower likelihood of engaging in CWBs with a highly (as compared to low) trustworthy leader. In the longitudinal field study, 313 employed adults completed four waves of an online survey. Findings indicated that trust mediated the relationships between cyber-incivility or cyberbullying victimization and supervisor satisfaction and OCBs (but not CWBs). Implications for future research and practice are discussed.