Interpersonal Dynamics at Work: How Positive and Negative Experiences Simultaneously Influence Work Attitudes

Details

• Personal Author:
  Malcore, Madison A. ; Gilmer, Declan O. ; Magley, Vicki J.
• Description:
  Workplace mistreatment and positive interpersonal experiences are not often considered simultaneously in empirical research. However, people are realistically experiencing positive and negative interpersonal experiences at work regularly. The goal of this study is to fill this gap by examining the relative importance of both incivility and prosocial experiences on people's job attitudes. Data from a large university in the northeastern United States revealed significant relationships between incivility and prosocial experiences and cynicism towards organizational change, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and affective commitment. Further, relative weights analysis, controlling for established job stressors, identified interpersonal experiences as accounting for about half of the variance in job attitudes. This demonstrates the strong role that these experiences have in shaping attitudes. Further, experiences coming from supervisors were highlighted as particularly important. Follow-up analyses provide preliminary evidence that these interpersonal experiences have a stronger influence on job attitudes for racial minority workers than for white workers. Implications and future directions are discussed.
• Subjects:
  Mental Health Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Incivility; Prosocial Experiences; Interpersonal Experiences; Job Attitudes; Job Stress Behavior; Job Stress; Attitude; Employee Satisfaction; Psychological Responses; Occupational Psychology;
• ISSN:
  2076-328X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; District of Columbia ; Boston Region [OSHA] ; Philadelphia Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  19 pdf pages
• Volume:
  16
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071151
• Citation:
  Behav Sci 2026 Jan; 16(1):156
• Email:
  vicki.magley@uconn.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  University of Connecticut Storrs
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Behavioral Sciences
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d379751cd2f27714421b57112e39ff97a71ab699595569a3a579bea93f7eeee9424da97464d2d5c58c1907bcdbfbb5332157f2cf70b8563156efaf7ba3bf3e85
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/257918/cdc_257918_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.16 MB ]