Incivility and engagement: the role of emotional exhaustion and psychological capital in service organizations

Purpose Based on the conservation of resource theory and the affective events theory, the study aims to explore the role of workplace incivility in predicting work engagement through emotional exhaustion and how psychological capital moderates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach Using the questionnaire survey with a sample of 278 restaurant employees in Ghana and through process macro analysis, the hypotheses were tested. Findings The results depict the mediating role of emotional exhaustion on the workplace incivility–engagement relationship. Also, the level of an individual’s psychological capital buffers the impact of workplace incivility on engagement through emotional exhaustion. When psychological capital is high, the negative effect of workplace incivility on work engagement through emotional exhaustion weakens. Practical implications The findings suggest that organizations, particularly those in developing economies in Africa, can derive immense benefit from giving psychological capital training to employees to help buffer the effects of incivility on engagement through emotional exhaustion. Originality/value With a focus on a developing economy in Africa, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is novel in exploring the mediating and moderating mechanisms of the incivility–engagement relationship.