Incivility meets remote work: A typology of cyber incivility behaviors

Whereas workplace incivility has been studied in traditional (live/office) settings, this phenomenon has received limited attention in the virtual workplace. As more employees work remotely, the present study illustrates the behaviors that can cause an uncivil work culture. For these purposes, remote hospitality workers provided written answers to open-ended questions regarding their work interactions. Content analysis of the informants’ accounts was conducted by two raters using MAXQDA Plus. Findings indicate that acts of incivility are performed in multiple ways, including condescending remarks, accusatory statements, having an irritable attitude or providing a short response, being distracted, interrupting, ignoring others in the virtual workspace, yelling, making inappropriate or offensive remarks, using foul language, or displaying negative body language. The authors categorize all the codes into broader categories and present a conceptual model explaining how workplace incivility occurs in the remote work environment. •Analyzes critical incidents of incivility experienced by remote workers.•Uses content analysis to identify themes and develop a typology.•Themes include insensitive remarks, irritable attitudes, ignoring, condescension, humiliation, and interruptions.•Additional themes include use of foul language, yelling, unfiltered feedback, and offensive body language.•A model is developed to include three overarching themes: sense of reproach, sense of aggression, and lack of regard.