Skip to main content
eScholarship
Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2014)

Existing research on rudeness has primarily focused on explaining it in face-to-face encounters, and has neglected examining its impact through other mediums. This dissertation addresses this gap in the literature by introducing the new construct of e-Rudeness, defined here as workplace email behavior perceived by an email recipient as insensitive, disrespectful, and a violation of norms for mutual respect within an organization. First, a new measure of e-Rudeness was derived from interview data and validated on an independent sample of employees. Next, the results of two experimental studies showed that exposure to e-Rudeness reduced individual task performance beyond that of face-to-face rudeness, and that exposure to e-Rudeness resulted in lower performance evaluations for third-parties through a mechanism introduced here as e-Rudeness contagion. Taken together, these three studies comprise an empirically grounded understanding of rudeness in the context of email at work, highlight some preliminary distinctions between it and face-to-face rudeness, and reveal the potential risk that rude email poses for employees.

    Cover page: e-Rudeness at Work: The Impact of Rude Email on Employee Performance
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2020)
    Purpose: The emerging literature on computer-mediated communication at the study lacks depth in terms of elucidating the consequences of the effects of incivility on employees. This study aims to compare face-to-face incivility with incivility encountered via e-mail on both task performance and performance evaluation. Design/methodology/approach: In two experimental studies, the authors test whether exposure to incivility via e-mail reduces individual task performance beyond that of face-to-face incivility and weather exposure to that incivility results in lower performance evaluations for third-parties. Findings: The authors show that being exposed to cyber incivility does decrease performance on a subsequent task. The authors also find that exposure to rudeness, both face-to-face and via e-mail, is contagious and results in lower performance evaluation scores for an uninvolved third party. Originality/value: This research comprises an empirically grounded study of incivility in the context of e-mail at study, highlights distinctions between it and face-to-face rudeness and reveals the potential risks that cyber incivility poses for employees.
      Cover page: Do you pass it on? An examination of the consequences of perceived cyber incivility
      Top