Selective incivility: an insidious form of discrimination in organizations

• Published date: 12 March 2020
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2019-0239
• Date: 12 March 2020
• Pages: 253-260
• Author: Dana Kabat-Farr,Isis H. Settles,Lilia M. Cortina
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion

Selective incivility: an insidious

form of discrimination

in organizations

Dana Kabat-Farr

Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

Isis H. Settles

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA and

Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan,

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, and

Lilia M. Cortina

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan,

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA and

Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Michigan,

Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

Abstract

Purpose–This article serves as an introduction to four articles featured in a special issue on selective incivility

in the workplace. This collection of papers addresses pressing issues around unpacking and tackling selective

incivility in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach –This introductory article first highlights research in this area to date,

provides a summary of the papers included in this special issue and ends with intriguing themes from the

papers and ways in which they advance the field.

Findings –These papers reveal contextual factors that help us better understand selective incivility: group

processes, workplace gender composition, status and power and modality (in-person or online incivility).

Originality/value –By bringing together four approaches to studying selective incivility, this special issue

pushes the field forward, providing empirically based insights as well as compelling new research directions.

Keywords Selectiveincivility, Incivility, Gender, Race, Diversity, Inclusion, Counterproductive work behavior

Paper type General review

As we preparefor the third decade of the third millennium,we continue to see certain groups in

society excluded from organizationallife, derailing their personal and professional well-being

and limiting the potentialof a diverse workforce. Many countries have laws and policiesthat

seek to eradicateexplicit forms of discrimination and bias in the workplace;however, there are

persistent stories of exclusion, degradation, and harassment toward women, people of

color, LGBTQIAþfolk, and those with other marginalized identities. Organizations are

increasingly adopting policies and practices that aim to increase diversity and inclusion.

Despite these efforts, formal laws and policies often leave unaddressed many subtle, covert

actions that function to diminish, dissuade and discriminate against those who hold

stigmatized identities,or whose success threatens the established powerand status hierarchy.

Research on selective incivility seeks to address this issue. Although most employees

experience incivility (e.g. being ignored or disregarded, being excluded from professional

opportunities, or having your judgment unfairly questioned over a matter for which you are

responsible; Andersson and Pearson, 1999), employees with marginalized identities may be

targeted at higher rates, constituting a unique form of modern discrimination (Cortina, 2008).

Cortina (2008) theorized that selective incivility functions as a covert manifestation of bias

against devalued or stigmatized people in organizations. Those at the intersection of multiple

Selective

incivility in

organizations

253

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 11 September 2019

Revised 4 December 2019

Accepted 5 January 2020

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 39 No. 3, 2020

pp. 253-260

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-09-2019-0239