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The fallout from workplace rudeness and incivility can spill over into a worker’s personal life and even “infect” spouses and their own workplaces.
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Rude and uncivil coworkers can have a significant effect on other employees’ relationships far beyond the workplace, not only disrupting their home life, but also their spouse or partner’s work environment, recent findings suggest.
According to a study recently published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, stress wrought by incivility can be so intense that, at the end of the day, it is taken home by the worker and affects the well-being of the worker’s family and significant other, who in turn takes the stress to his or her own workplace.
In the August 2011 study, titled You Cannot Leave It at the Office: Spillover and Crossover of Coworker Incivility, coworker rudeness was defined as “rude and discourteous” behavior and displaying “a lack of regard for others.”
While piles of research in recent years have revealed that uncivil behavior from colleagues often decreases morale and engagement, diminishes productivity and increases absenteeism and turnover, this study analyzed the effects of uncivil behavior on an individual’s life outside of work, particularly familial relationships. That is, it not only assessed the effects of stress experienced by people at their workplace due to coworker rudeness and disrespectful behavior, but also assessed the consequences on their partner’s or spouse’s well-being.
“Unlike the study of incivility’s effects at work, the study of its impact on the family is in its infancy,” according to Merideth J. Ferguson, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business. “However, these findings emphasize the notion that organizations must realize the far-reaching effects of co-worker incivility and its impact on employees and their families.”
Based on a survey of 190 full-time workers and their employed partners, the study reveals that coworker incivility “demonstrates both spillover and crossover effects.” The findings indicate that “incivility targets do not leave the stress of incivility at work but instead bring it home to the family domain where it influences relationships with and outcomes of their partners.”
“Employees who experience such incivility at work bring home the stress, negative emotion and perceived ostracism that results from those experiences, which then affects more than their family life — it also creates problems for the partner’s life at work,” Ferguson said in an announcement of the findings.
Looking at the impact of coworker rudeness after the employee returns home from the job, Ferguson, the study’s lead author, found that the effects extend to the worker’s children, friends, parents and partner.
“A stressed employee often shares work frustrations with their spouse or partner, and the partner feels desperate to fix it,” MSNBC.com’s Life Inc. explains. “But that’s unrealistic, and the feelings of helplessness can build more stress.”
Moreover, the stressed and distracted worker may neglect family responsibilities, further deteriorating marital relations.
The person who has been the victim of rude coworkers “comes home more stressed and distracted, and the partner is likely to pick up more of the family responsibilities.” The increased demands at home on the partner’s time might cross over into the partner’s work life.
“This phenomenon jumps workplaces,” Ferguson told Life Inc. “It goes from the workplace to the home to another workplace.”
Among the study’s key findings:
- Participants who experienced rude or uncivil behavior at work tend to be dissatisfied with their jobs and marriages;
- Partners whose spouse faced uncivil behavior at work also experienced marital dissatisfaction; and
- Partners whose spouse faced uncivil behavior at work experienced conflicts in their own family and work domains, thereby linking the partner’s stress to his or her partner’s own work-related problems.
Ferguson concludes that it is crucial to stop uncivil behavior before it begins so that “the ripple effect of incivility does not impact the employee’s family and potentially inflict further damage beyond the workplace where the incivility took place and cross over into the workplace of the partner.”
Related
The Civilized Workplace: No Jerks Allowed
How to Make the Workplace Insufferable
Workplace Bullying Runs Rampant
From the Playground to the Boardroom: Workplace Bullies
Resources
You Cannot Leave it at the Office: Spillover and Crossover of Coworker Incivility
by Merideth Ferguson
Journal of Organizational Behavior, August 2011
You Can’t Leave It at the Office: …Study Finds Consequences of Co-Worker Rudeness are Far-reaching
Baylor University, Aug. 16, 2011
Workplace Drama Can Damage your Home Life
by Kimberly Hayes Taylor
Life Inc. (MSNBC.com), Aug. 25, 2011
Workplace Stress Can Spill Over into Home Life and Marriage
FYI Living, Sept. 23, 2011
How Rude! Incivility in the Workplace Has Widespread Effects
by Laura Walter
EHS Today, Aug. 24, 2011
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A strong personality impacts their work environment but anything less than strong often takes in more than it gives out. Additionally, the economy struggles have added stress to an already stressful area. If you do not have a process to release this I would expect you to take it home. It is a timely article and something many employers need to consider because disruptions at home spill over into the work performance and this creates a less than desirable cycle.
It happens very often, and it’s true. One thing we need to consider, however, is the possibility that this situation can be controlled or changed by the people affected.
According to one author, I can’t remember his name now, “No one can make you angry, if you don’t allow him to affect you.” The expression, therefore, “You make me angry,” is not true either. When someone has full control of his own emotions, nothing around him can change his emotions. You cannot make that person unhappy once he decided already to be happy. In plain science, action elicits a reaction. But when the reaction comes from a decision maker, he can decide to be affected or not be affected.
Try diverting your attention to something better whenever an emotional upset is met in the office, and decide to leave it in the office. It would help avoid the spread of the contagion to the office of our spouse or affect the family relationships. It won’t be easy, though I believe the situation can be changed.