Can Incivility be Informative? Client Incivility as a Signal for Provider Creativity.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Keywords
creativity, workplace incivility, signaling theory, topic modeling, trait– state– occasion modeling
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/ocp0000323
Abstract
Workplace incivility is generally viewed as a deleterious interpersonal stressor. Yet, alternative theories suggest that incivility may have instrumental implications for some targets. Applying signaling theory, we study client–provider relationships in a health care context to unpack linkages between incivility enacted by organizational outsiders and work creativity responses by employee targets. We argue that providers leverage information from client incivility to provide more creative care over time. In Study 1 (N = 186), results suggest that clients may use incivility to signal perceptions of poor treatment quality to providers. In Study 2 (N = 416), results from topic modeling of qualitative data show that providers observe client incivility and believe it can contain valuable information about client satisfaction. In Study 3 (N = 503), providers reported their experiences of client incivility and creativity (incremental and radical) in client care over five waves of data to capture the incubation time that providers may need to reflect on instances of incivility. Employing trait–state–occasion modeling, our findings show that episodic (i.e., higher than normal) client incivility had positive lagged relationships with incremental and radical provider creativity, suggesting that time is needed for providers to process the information contained in the client incivility signal and creatively modify treatment plans. Theoretical and practical implications for workplace incivility and creativity are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, v. 27, issue 4, p. 392-410
Scholar Commons Citation
Matthews, Russell A.; Walsh, Benjamin M.; Smith, Claire E.; Whitman, Marilyn V.; and McKersie, Sara J., "Can Incivility be Informative? Client Incivility as a Signal for Provider Creativity." (2022). Psychology Faculty Publications. 2520.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/2520
