Are dominant communications perceived as uncivil? : exploring the moderating roles of leader gender and organizational uncertainty

Abstract

Drawing on the workplace incivility literature and theoretical lenses on gender (e.g., Role Congruity Theory; Eagly & Karau, 2002), I predicted that female (vs. male) leaders displaying dominant (vs. neutral) behaviours would be perceived as more uncivil. Based on Uncertainty Management Theory (van den Bos & Lind, 2002), this pattern was expected to be exacerbated within an unstable (vs. stable) organization. Using an online experimental design, participants (<i>N</i>=815) were randomly assigned to one of eight vignettes that manipulated leader behaviour, leader gender and organizational stability. Results revealed no significant interactions for three measures of incivility. There was a significant main effect of leader behaviour, however; dominant (vs. neutral) leaders were perceived as more uncivil. Additional analyses found that dominant (vs. neutral) leaders were perceived as less warm and also increased feelings of job insecurity and organizational uncertainty, especially within a stable organization. Limitations, implications and future research avenues are discussed.