Punish or help? Third parties’ constructive responses to witnessed workplace incivility: the role of political skill

Abstract

Abstract Existing workplace incivility research from the perspective of third parties has been found to be limited in explaining the specific boundary conditions of their constructive responses, such as punishing the instigator and helping the target. The lack of relevant knowledge hinders a comprehensive understanding of the coping strategies favoured by third parties. Building on the deontic model and the value protection model, this research involved two sub-studies with a total of 710 Chinese employees, employing a scenario experiment (Study 1) and a time-lagged survey (Study 2). The results showed that witnessed incivility positively predicted third parties’ workplace ostracism against the instigator, with moral anger acting as a mediator. The research did not identify a direct link between witnessed incivility and third parties’ organisational citizenship behaviour towards the target. However, the mediating role of moral anger between these two variables was found in Study 1. Moreover, Study 1 indicated that political skill strengthened the relationship between witnessed incivility and moral anger, but weakened the relationship between moral anger and third parties’ workplace ostracism against the instigator or their helping behaviour towards the target—findings partially supported by Study 2. These insights provide a practical and theoretical understanding of how organisations can utilise the role of third parties to intervene in workplace incivility effectively.