Classification, measurement, and antecedents of users’ cyber-incivility on social media

Incivility, a low-intensity deviant behaviour with ambiguous intent to harm the victim and violating the norm of mutual respect, is prevalent on social media and may escalate into severe forms during interpersonal interactions. To better understand this phenomenon, we introduce a concept of cyber-incivility on social media (CISM), aiming to operationalise it and understand the motivations behind such a user behaviour. Toward this end, we first identified four types of CISM based on descriptions provided by study participants and further operationalised the concept into a second-order reflective structure encompassing rights-related behaviour, disrespectful content and exclusive behaviour. Based on deterrence theory, we applied this operationalised scale in an empirical study. Results reveal that the negative attitudes of users toward CISM directly inhibits them from initiating it, whereas face-saving and average daily platform usage have opposite effects on their intention to initiate CISM. Furthermore, severe and certain deterrence policies, as well as making participants aware that CISM is not approved by others (i.e., subjective norm), indirectly affect their decisions to initiate such behaviour through their attitudes. This study contributes to the understanding of online deviant behaviors and offers valuable insights for social media content management and regulation.