Lindenwood University Digital Commons@Lindenwood University Dissertations Theses & Dissertations Spring 4-2012 An Inquiry into Workplace Incivility: Perceptions of Working Graduate Students Ashley E. Greene Lindenwood University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/dissertations Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons Recommended Citation Greene, Ashley E., "An Inquiry into Workplace Incivility: Perceptions of Working Graduate Students" (2012). Dissertations. 488. https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/dissertations/488 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses & Dissertations at Digital Commons@Lindenwood University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Lindenwood University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An Inquiry into Workplace Incivility: Perceptions of Working Graduate Students by Ashley E. Greene A Dissertation submitted to the Education Faculty of Lindenwood University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education School of Education Acknowledgements I would like to extend my utmost sincere thanks to my committee chair, Dr. Lynda Leavitt. The success of my completion of this process is truly accredited to your commitment and determination to not let me fail. You never lost vision of knowing that one day I would cross the finish line. I am deeply grateful for all of your time in and out of the office regardless of your full schedule to help me anyway you could. I could not ask for a better supporter and friend throughout during this process than you. To my committee members: Dr. Sherrie Wisdom, I am so thankful for all of your time and assistance that you dedicated throughout my process. You always showed enthusiasm and encouragement in our discussions and helped me find a way through the statistics and other obstacles. Dr. Beth Kania-Gosche thank you for all of your support, research, knowledge sharing, and progress check-ins along the way, and Dr. Angela Holden, thank you for your support and assistance especially during the coordination and implementation of the survey segment of my research gathering. Extended thanks: Dr. Deb Ayres, Dr. Cynthia Bice, Dr. Rick Boyle, Dr. James Evans, Dr. Larry Matthews, Dr. Terry Stewart, and Dr. JannWeitzel. Supportive thanks to: Dr. Mike McKinne, Dr. Dan Kemper, Dr. Mark Lerman, Dr. Cindy Manjounes, Mr. Terry St. Clair, and the 2010 spring semester working graduate student participants. Special thanks to fellow doctoral cohort Dr. Karolina Lapinska-Schneider for your assistance with my survey segment and always offering to help. A very special thanks to my Mom. It is because of your GRITS that I chose to pursue the need to campaign the importance of civility. Thank you for always ‗non relinques‘ during this experience and reminding me of the importance of my topic and where it is needed most. To my family and friends, thank you for all of your i encouragement, genuine interest, and continued support during my years of research and writing. ii Abstract The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine and determine the level of incivility in the workplace as a growing problem from the perceptional views of graduate students enrolled in accelerated degree programs for graduate studies in Business Administration, Criminal Justice Administration, Gerontology, Health Management, and Human Resource Management at a private Midwestern university. Modest research on the subject of incivility in the workplace has emerged only recently to identify the problem exists in today‘s workforce, while studies inclusive of diverse populations of employees with short and long term career paths and ranges of employment service years are not visible in the literature. As a baseline for this study, a populace of 405 working graduate students defined what constitutes civil and uncivil behavior in the workplace. Through survey instrumentation and interview discussion the researcher gathered demographics from participants including gender and generation, determined similarities and differences, as well as established common themes. Several measureable impacts of incivility in the workplace were examined to uncover participant views towards employee job satisfaction, employee productivity, and the effectiveness of employees and their management‘s responsiveness towards identifying and sustaining incidents of incivility in the workplace. Additional examination of verbal and non-verbal behaviors associated with incivility in the workplace, perceptions of employees‘ awareness of their own contributions to incivility in the workplace, and uses of technology in the workplace as E-Incivility were included in this study. iii Results generated from quantitative data revealed a weak significance between the demographic groups of working graduate student perceptions towards incivility as a growing problem in the workplace, employee job satisfaction, and job productivity. Subsequent results from additional quantitative data showed faint correlations of working graduate students effectiveness in preventative measures as well as their own contributions of incivility in the workplace. Interview discussions validated perceptions and beliefs that technology use in the workplace is a growing problem of E-Incivility. Conclusively, content from interview discussions provided the researcher insight of whether incivility in the workplace occurs in sporadic bursts or as a daily recurring pattern, resulting in the researcher‘s determination that reinstating civility is of great importance. iv Table of Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................x List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiii Chapter One: Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Background of the Study .................................................................................................1 Statement of Problem .......................................................................................................4 Professional Significance of the Problem ........................................................................5 Overview of Methodology ...............................................................................................6 Research Questions ..........................................................................................................7 Hypotheses .......................................................................................................................8 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................10 Limitations .....................................................................................................................12 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................13 Chapter Two: Literature Review .......................................................................................15 Introduction ....................................................................................................................15 Civil Theoretical Framework .........................................................................................15 Incivility .......................................................................................................................177 Stress Factors Cause for Incivility .................................................................................19 Workplace Organizational Culture and Climate ............................................................20 Cubical Work Settings / Desk Rage...........................................................................21 Good Ettiquette and Manners ....................................................................................22 Incivility in Health Care and Service .........................................................................23 Legal Professions and Law Enforcement Civility Standards ....................................24 v Incivility of Office Ettiquette .....................................................................................25 Technology and e-Incivility .......................................................................................28 Cell Phones/Blackberries ...........................................................................................29 E-mail .........................................................................................................................30 Influences of Incivility in Social Media .....................................................................31 Negative Effects of Incivility on Employees .............................................................33 Loss of Productivity ...................................................................................................35 Confronting Incivility ................................................................................................37 Summary ........................................................................................................................38 Chapter Three: Methodology .............................................................................................40