A review of the short-term implications of discrete, episodic incivility

Most of the work pertaining to incivility has approached the topic as if incivility were a chronic, ambient environmental factor in organizations—wearing people down and making them more vulnerable to future incidents. From this perspective, it is the frequency of encounters with incivility over a significant period of time that matters, and a single, isolated exposure to incivility does not merit much concern. To the contrary, isolated encounters with incivility can result in serious, negative consequences for individuals and organizations. In this review, we highlight research that focuses on incivility as discrete or episodic events and discuss findings as they relate to affect, cognition, and behavior. Throughout the review, we offer insight into the possible pathways by which incivility affects individuals and review various interventions aimed at diminishing the effects of incivility in the workplace. Lastly, we discuss research opportunities where additional investigations are needed to advance the field of incivility.