In this article we offer a new perspective to the study of negative behavioral contagion in organizations. In 3 studies, we investigate the contagion effect of rudeness and the cognitive mechanism that explains this effect. Study 1 results show that low-intensity negative behaviors like rudeness can be contagious, and that this contagion effect can occur based on single episodes, that anybody can be a carrier, and that this contagion effect has second-order consequences for future interaction partners. In Studies 2 and 3 we explore in the laboratory the cognitive mechanism that underlies the negative behavioral contagion effect observed in Study 1. Specifically, we show that rudeness activates a semantic network of related concepts in individuals' minds, and that this activation influences individual's hostile behaviors. In sum, in these 3 studies we show that just like the common cold, common negative behaviors can spread easily and have significant consequences for people in organizations.

Using an experimental experience sampling design, we investigate how witnessing morning rudeness influences workers' subsequent perceptions and behaviors throughout the workday. We posit that a single exposure to rudeness in the morning can contaminate employees' perceptions of subsequent social interactions leading them to perceive greater workplace rudeness throughout their workday. We expect that these contaminated perceptions will have important ramifications for employees' work behaviors. In a 10-day study of 81 professional and managerial employees, we find that witnessed morning rudeness leads to greater perceptions of workplace rudeness throughout the workday and that those perceptions, in turn, predict lower task performance and goal progress and greater interaction avoidance and psychological withdrawal. We also find that the contaminating effect of morning rudeness depends on core self-evaluations (CSE)-employees high (vs. low) in CSE are affected less by exposure to morning rudeness. We discuss implications for practice and theory. (PsycINFO Database Record

Introverted individuals may experience and evaluate their dyadic work relationships differently than extraverts. In two studies, we investigated the interaction effect of an individual's and observing peer's personality traits on performance evaluations and reward giving. Study 1 showed that introverted (but not extraverted) peers consistently evaluated extraverted and disagreeable (but not introverted and agreeable) individuals' performance as lower. Study 2 replicated these findings with regard to performance evaluation and reward giving using an experimental design that manipulated actor personality and held objective performance constant. The results also showed that introverts' trait sensitivity and negative person impressions mediated these relationships. Overall, results support an information utilization model of interpersonal dyadic evaluation, wherein introverts are more sensitive to interpersonal personality traits than their extraverted counterparts, incorporating interpersonal traits in person impressions and subsequent evaluations and reward distributions. We conclude with implications for dyadic workplace interactions, personality, and sources of emergent dyadic influences on performance evaluation.

Rude and disrespectful behaviors are ubiquitous and pervasive in the workplace. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of witnessed rudeness on dental student psychomotor performance. Using an experimental, betweensubjects design, 71 2nd (Sophomore) year dental students witnessed either an experimental (rude) or control (neutral) condition in which a confederate lab manager interacted in a rude or neutral manner with a prospective lab assistant candidate. Students then performed a mock prosthodontics psychomotor examination as part of the fixed prosthodontics preclinical course. Results indicated that those students who arrived at the experimental session cognitively depleted (+1 SD above the mean) and were exposed to the rude condition were significantly more likely to make critical errors when performing a posterior bridge preparation, compared to those students in the control group. There were no significant differences between the rude and control conditions for participants who were not cognitively depleted (−1 SD below the mean). Overall, the findings indicate that for those dental students suffering from cognitive depletion, merely witnessing rudeness can have adverse impacts on psychomotor performance and potentially, eventual patient care.

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