While Hailed for Its Efficiency in Facilitating

WHILE HAILED FOR ITS EFFICIENCY IN FACILITATING interactions in an increasingly wired workplace, electronic mail messages (emails) also have a dark side. Pearson and Porath4 noted that the complexity of fast-paced, high tech interactions facilitated by emails fuel incivility as people “believe that they don’t have time to be ‘nice’ and that impersonal modes of contact do not require the courtesies associated with faceto face interactions. Consistent with Lim and Chin,3 we define cyber incivility as communicative behavior that are exhibited in the context of email interactions and that violate workplace norms for mutual respect. Although the intent to harm may be ambiguous, the spillover effect of an uncivil interpersonal workplace encounter on others as well as the organization should not be underestimated. Because of its lack of social and contextual cues, negative online interactions are likely to generate a stronger adverse effect on victims compared to traditional face-to-face or telephone encounters as individuals lack the opportunity to seek immediate clarification or obtain dynamic feedback. 5 We examine the pervasiveness of cyber incivility at the workplace in Singapore, the impact of respondents’ gender on the types of cyber incivility experienced and the effect of cyber incivility on respondents’ work attitudes. Data were collected using questionnaire surveys. Prior to administration, a pretest was conducted to elicit feedback regarding the clarity of the instructions and items in the survey instrument. A short briefing was conducted at the various organizations which took part in the study. Respondents were requested to return the completed surveys in a sealed envelope that was provided. Data were obtained from 192 respondents working in companies in the banking and finance industry. Majority of respondents were Chinese (92%) while the rest comprised Malays and Indians. About 50% had earned a bachelor’s degree, 30% had obtained at least a diploma from the polytechnics and 20% had a secondary school education or its equivalent. Respondents have an average work experience of eight years. The average age was 30 years, 63% of the respondents were women. Singapore provides an appropriate context for examining cyber incivility as there is widespread Internet and email access both at home and at work.