The double-edged role of creativity: silence mechanisms linking workplace incivility to counterproductive work behavior

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study examines how workplace incivility influences CWB through employee silence in technology-mediated work environments while considering the moderating role of employee creativity. Using survey data collected from 487 Chinese employees working in digitally integrated enterprises, this study develops and tests a moderated mediation model in which acquiescent silence and defensive silence function as two parallel mediating mechanisms linking workplace incivility and CWB. The results indicate that workplace incivility significantly increases CWB through both forms of silence, suggesting that employee silence represents a key behavioral pathway through which incivility contributes to individual psychological resource depletion. Moreover, creativity exhibits differential moderating effects across the two indirect pathways. Specifically, creativity strengthens the indirect effect of workplace incivility on CWB via acquiescent silence while weakening the indirect effect via defensive silence. These findings suggest that the behavioral consequences of creativity depend on the type of silence employees adopt in response to incivility. By distinguishing between acquiescent silence and defensive silence, this study advances understanding of employee behavioral response mechanisms in technology-mediated work environments and highlights the context-dependent role of creativity as a psychological resource.