A nursing perspective on the antecedents and consequences of incivility in higher education: A scoping review

Background

Understanding antecedents and consequences of incivility across higher education is necessary to create and implement strategies that prevent and slow uncivil behaviors.

Purpose

To identify the nature, extent, and range of research related to antecedents and consequences of incivility in higher education.

Objectives

1) To identify disciplines and programs sampled in higher education incivility research, and 2) to compare antecedents and consequences examined in nursing education research with other disciplines and programs in higher education.

Design

A scoping review of the literature.

Data sources

Eight electronic databases searched in January 2023 including MEDLINE Ovid, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus, ProQuest Education Database, Education Research Complete, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Review methods

We included primary research articles examining antecedents or consequences of incivility in higher education. Two reviewers independently screened and determined inclusion of each study. Data extraction was completed. We employed a numerical descriptive summary to analyze the range of data and content analysis to categorize the antecedents and consequences of incivility in higher education.

Results

Database searches yielded 6678 unique articles. One hundred and nineteen studies published between 2003 and 2023 met the inclusion criteria, of which, 65 reported research in nursing education, and 54 in other programs and disciplines. A total of 91 antecedents and 50 consequences of incivility in higher education were reported. Stress (n = 12 nursing, n = 4 other programs), faculty incivility (n = 9 nursing, n = 5 other programs), and student incivility (n = 4 nursing, n = 5 other programs) were reported as antecedents of incivility in higher education. Physiological and psychological negative outcomes (n = 25 nursing, n = 12 other programs), stress (n = 6 nursing, n = 6 other programs), and faculty job satisfaction (n = 3 nursing, n = 2 other programs) were reported as consequences of incivility in higher education

Conclusions

Supporting development of teaching practices and role modeling of civility by faculty is a crucial element to slowing the frequency of uncivil interactions between faculty and students. Specific strategies that target stress, such as, cognitive behavioral therapy, coping skills, and social support could mitigate incivility in higher education. Future research needs to examine the strength of the negative effects of incivility on physiological and psychological outcomes through advanced statistical methods, as well as the cumulative effects of uncivil behavior on these outcomes over time for both students and faculty. Application of advanced statistical methods can also support our understanding of sources of incivility as well as the accuracy of causal connections between its antecedents and consequences.