How You Treat Me Matters: The Role of Incivility Behaviours in Close Relationships Formed Between Individuals in Virtual Work

The objective of the current study is to understand the impact of civility and incivility in virtual work between management and staff, and its effects on employee outcomes (e.g., burnout, workplace anxiety). To test the hypotheses that incivility will lead to higher job burnout and workplace anxiety between employees and their management, an online survey was distributed to virtually working employees across Canada. Participants were recruited based on an applied sample and asked to respond to the material. Responses from participants were analyzed using a correlational analysis. The results showed that although incivility does lead to job burnout and workplace anxiety in virtual, the prediction that these experiences would be more frequent was not supported. These results suggest that incivility may not be as present in virtual work as originally anticipated. In order to develop more understanding of virtual work in the future, it is imperative to develop institutional and interpersonal recommendations that maintain supportive, psychologically safe, and respectful dynamics between management and their staff.