ORCID

0009-0009-3269-4565

Keywords

workplace rudeness, workplace incivility, workplace mistreatment, meta-perceptions, interpersonal perception, cognitive appraisal

Subject Categories

Business Administration, Management, and Operations

Abstract

Workplace rudeness negatively impacts employees and costs organizations millions of dollars each year. Although much is known about the consequences of workplace rudeness, little is known about how perpetrators make sense of and respond to their (potentially) rude behavior. In this dissertation, I propose that perpetrators consider not only their self-perceptions of rudeness, or how rude they believe their actions were, but also their meta-perceptions of rudeness, or their beliefs about how rude another person perceived them to be. Because rudeness is subjective and people vary in their perceptual accuracy, self- and meta-perceptions of rudeness are unlikely to consistently align. Drawing on cognitive-motivational-relational theory, I argue that the (in)congruence between self- and meta-perceptions of rudeness, along with intent to harm, shapes perpetrators’ appraisal processes, emotional responses (e.g., guilt, confusion, relief, anger), and subsequent behavior (e.g., relational repair, clarification seeking, perpetrated rudeness) following potentially rude interactions with coworkers. I tested this model across two studies. Study 1 employed a 2 by 2 by 2 experimental vignette design in which self-perceived rudeness, meta-perceived rudeness, and intent to harm were manipulated. Study 2 used a critical incident technique in which participants recalled a workplace interaction involving aligned or misaligned self- and meta-perceptions of rudeness. Across studies, incongruence between self- and meta-perceptions was associated with greater confusion, which in turn predicted clarification seeking. Congruence at higher levels of rudeness was associated with greater guilt, which predicted greater relational repair and, in Study 1, lower future rudeness intentions. Findings for anger, relief, and intent to harm were less consistent with predictions. This dissertation advances workplace mistreatment research by showing that meta-perceptions of rudeness help explain whether and why perpetrators repair, clarify, or continue to mistreat others.

Completion Date

2026

Semester

Summer

Committee Chair

Taylor, Shannon

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

Barry S. Miller College of Business

Department

Department of Management

Format

PDF

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

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