Abstract:
Incivility and safety behaviour have been extensively studied in industrial and organisational psychology literature, where both factors have been independently linked to various negative outcomes. Although incivility and safety behaviour has drawn considerable
attention, research has not directly tested the relationship. In this study, I delve deeper into
the relationship between experienced incivility and employee safety behaviour by drawing
upon moral disengagement as the mediating mechanism. Specifically, the present research
predicts that experiencing incivility will result in increased moral disengagement among
employees. Consequently, increased moral disengagement will lead to reduced safety
behaviours, including safety compliance and safety participation. I tested each hypothesis
using data from 400 New Zealand nurses across six weekly surveys. In general, the results
supported all the hypothesised relationships. Specifically, my findings showed that incivility
strongly predicted moral disengagement, supporting hypothesis one. Results also supported
hypothesis two: moral disengagement reduces safety compliance and safety participation.
Results further showed that moral disengagement mediated the relationship between
incivility, safety compliance and safety participation, supporting the mediation hypothesis.
Taken together, my study not only contributes to the growing body of research on workplace
incivility and safety behaviour but highlights the cognitive processes that enable employees
to justify unsafe work practices.
