The victim perspective of incivility: The role of negative affectivity, hierarchical status and their interaction in explaining victimisation

Incivility is an expression of disregard toward others in a social interaction in which one side is victimised by the other. Thus far, victimisation research has focused on behaviours that are more aggressive in nature than incivility is. Drawing from the victimology literature, this study extends the theoretical framework of victimisation by investigating hierarchal status and the negative affectivity (NA) as predictors of the frequency with which incivility is experienced by its victims. 295 workers were sampled through a web-based survey. Results show that high negative affectivity and low hierarchal status can predict the frequency with which incivility is experienced by its victims. In addition, results show that the victim's status moderates the relationship between negative affectivity and the frequency of experiences of incivility. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.