A values-based model of contempt at work: elicitation and functional outcomes

Purpose This paper aims to examine: (1) Do personal values influence the elicitation of contempt at work? (2) Does contempt motivate workplace incivility? and (3) Does contempt serve associative and social-distancing functions in the workplace? Design/methodology/approach Time-lagged online survey data were collected from 555 US full-time workers. Findings Workers felt contempt for a coworker who violated their most important personal value, motivating workplace incivility toward the coworker. Contempt was also associated with maintaining distance from a value-violating coworker and appraising oneself as relatively morally superior to that coworker, supporting that contempt serves social-distancing and associative functions at work. Originality/value This study enhances theoretical understanding of contempt’s elicitation and functionality at work through a personal values framework.