YOU SAW THAT, RIGHT? THE EFFECTS OF WITNESSED WORKPLACE INCIVILITY ON FATIGUE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DETACHMENT ACROSS AGE

Abstract

Workplace incivility exists as a pervasive, low-intensity stressor that can affect workers across the age spectrum. The majority of past research has focused on targets of incivility with little attention given to the witnesses of these acts. Workers who witness incivility may experience negative effects on their work functioning and well-being, specifically by draining resources, leading to experiences of mental or emotional fatigue, which may hinder the ability to psychologically detach from work, a critical recovery process following stressful workplace experiences. Further, older and younger workers have different emotional regulation strategies; thus, how they interpret and respond to witnessing incivility may be dependent on this. This thesis aimed to understand how witnessing incivility at work influences workers’ recovery processes through an aging lens. The present study utilized a between-subjects, vignette-based, experimental design. The sample consisted of 293 full-time working adults. Witnessing workplace incivility was shown to lead to higher perceived fatigue, which, in turn, was associated with greater psychological detachment. Age was revealed to be a significant moderator of the relationship between witnessing incivility, fatigue, and psychological detachment, indicating that older individuals experienced stronger effects from witnessing uncivil behaviors. The study findings suggest that the impact of witnessed incivility on well-being acts through a process of resource depletion that differs across ages.