Workplace Incivility in Caregiving: Relations to Work Motivation and Psychological Need Satisfaction

Workplace incivility is a pervasive issue with implications for employee well-being. Drawing upon Self-Determination Theory, this study explores the association between experienced workplace incivility, need satisfaction, and work motivation and investigates whether workplace incivility is negatively associated with autonomous work motivation. We hypothesize that experiencing workplace incivility will diminish autonomous work motivation. A sample of 481 employees in the healthcare sector participated. Data were collected through strategic sampling. The results indicate that experienced incivility negatively impacting need satisfaction. Extrinsic motivation was associated positively with experienced incivility and negatively with competence need satisfaction. The relations between workplace incivility and extrinsic, introjected, and intrinsic motivation were statistically mediated by competence need satisfaction. These findings shed light on the complex interplay between workplace incivility, need satisfaction, and work motivation within caregiving professions, offering valuable insights into organizational practices and future research.