More than just shying away from conflict: The relationship between social anxiety and workplace incivility
Abstract
For individuals who experience social anxiety, the workplace presents unique obstacles as they fear the social interactions. In particular, these individuals may struggle with workplace incivility. This study used questionnaires and vignettes to determine if the severity of social anxiety is related to heightened reports of social anxiety in their own workplace as well as increased negative valance associated with incivility events. In addition, the influence of various forms of self-efficacy and social support at work was measured. It was found that social anxiety increased reports of incivility at work. Self-efficacy had a nonsignificant influence and social support at work had the opposite impact than expected, leading to more increased reporting of incivility when feeling supported. The findings relating to emotional reactions were contrary to expectations, with social anxiety increasing positive reactions to incivility. Social support at work had a nonsignificant impact on this relationship while self-efficacy improved reactions further. Though there were contradictions between this finding and past research, this study supports the idea that social anxiety influences perceptions of incivility at work in some way. It appears that severity of social anxiety leads to increased experiences of incivility from workplace interactions, which could lead to a variety of job-related and personal issues.