A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents and Outcomes of Workplace Incivility

Relationships between incivility and antecedents and outcomes were meta-analyzed. Results showed that incivility was associated with dispositional and situational antecedents, but relationships were stronger for situational predictors. Incivility additionally had a stronger relationship with many employee outcomes in comparison to the relationships found for other forms of mistreatment

Measuring and Defining Discrimination

Given the prevalence and myriad consequences associated with actual and perceived workplace discrimination, research addressing this topic has grown rapidly in recent years. This expansion of the literature has been accompanied by a proliferation of constructs, definitions, and measures. This chapter reviews and summarizes current definitions and measurement approaches, highlighting discrepancies and deficiencies where they exist in the literature. The chapter concludes by identifying gaps in the workplace discrimination literature, organized around issues of who, what, where, when, and why. Recommendations for future research include employing study designs that minimize the potential for common method variance, assessing perpetrator and target perspectives simultaneously, paying more attention to issues of timing in order to study discrimination as a dynamic and event- based phenomenon, identifying contextual factors that influence the likelihood of perceiving and reporting discrimination, and further clarifying and addressing the bases by which discrimination occurs

Unexpected public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: a national survey examining anti-Asian attitudes in the USA

© 2020, Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+). Objectives: This paper empirically examines whether and how COVID-19 may be activating bias and discrimination toward individuals of Asian descent. Methods: In March 2020, we used a national online survey to collect data from 1141 US residents. Using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression, we estimated the prevalence and COVID-19-related predictors of bias toward people of Asian descent. Results: We found over 40% of our sample reported they would engage in at least one discriminatory behavior toward people of Asian descent. Respondents who were fearful of COVID-19 (b =.09, p \u3c 0.001) and had less accurate knowledge about the virus (b = −.07, p \u3c 0.001) reported more negative attitudes toward Asians as did respondents with less trust in science (b = −.06, p \u3c 0.001) and more trust in President Trump (b =.04, p \u3c 0.001). Conclusions: Public health leaders must confront fear of the virus, improve knowledge, and bolster trust in science as these factors may evoke negative attitudes toward Asians and increase prejudice and discrimination. Specifically, our findings warrant the adoption of public health campaigns that provide health information and build trust in scientific knowledge

Measuring And Defining Discrimination

Given the prevalence and myriad consequences associated with actual and perceived workplace discrimination, research addressing this topic has grown rapidly in recent years. This expansion of the literature has been accompanied by a proliferation of constructs, definitions, and measures. This chapter reviews and summarizes current definitions and measurement approaches, highlighting discrepancies and deficiencies where they exist in the literature. The chapter concludes by identifying gaps in the workplace discrimination literature, organized around issues of who, what, where, when, and why. Recommendations for future research include employing study designs that minimize the potential for common method variance, assessing perpetrator and target perspectives simultaneously, paying more attention to issues of timing in order to study discrimination as a dynamic and event- based phenomenon, identifying contextual factors that influence the likelihood of perceiving and reporting discrimination, and further clarifying and addressing the bases by which discrimination occurs

The Role of News Consumption and Trust in Public Health Leadership in Shaping COVID-19 Knowledge and Prejudice

The novelty of COVID-19 has created unique challenges to successful public health efforts because it has required the public to quickly learn and formulate knowledge and attitudes about the virus as information becomes available. The need to stay apprised of new information has also created a critical role for mass media and public institutions in shaping the public’s knowledge of, attitudes about, and responses to the unfolding pandemic. In this study, we examine how media consumption and reliance on specific institutions for information shapes three critical outcomes associated with public health epidemics: the accumulation of knowledge and the endorsement of misinformation about COVID-19, and prejudicial responses to the virus. We surveyed 1,141 adults residing across the United States in March 2020. Using multivariate regression and t-tests, we found that participants had greater knowledge, were less likely to endorse misinformation, and reported less bias toward Asian Americans when they had higher trust in the CDC and lower trust in President Trump. Reliance on certain news formats and sources was also associated with knowledge, misinformation, and prejudice. Our findings suggest that trust and news consumption can pose critical barriers to health literacy and foster negative prejudicial responses that further undermine public health efforts surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic

An experimental study of the effects of messaging strategies on vaccine acceptance and hesitancy among Black Americans

Black Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 but have comparatively low vaccination rates, creating a need for vaccine messaging strategies that are tailored to this population. We conducted an experimental study to examine the effects of three messaging strategies on Black Americans’ reported willingness to receive the vaccine and vaccine hesitancy. We also recruited White and Hispanic Americans to assess any potential backfire effects of the tailored strategies for non-Black participants. A total of 739 participants completed the study. Results from 4x2 ANCOVAs indicate that, among Black participants, messaging that acknowledged past unethical treatment of Black Americans in medical research and emphasized current safeguards to prevent medical mistreatment was associated with significantly less vaccine hesitancy than the control condition. The same effects were not observed for messaging strategies that provided general safety information about the vaccine or that emphasized the role of the vaccine in reducing racial inequities. There were no significant differences across conditions for participants of other races. Results demonstrate that public health messages tailored to address specific vaccine concerns may aid future vaccination campaigns

Is it the Person or the Place? A Meta-Analytic Test of the Antecedents of Experienced Workplace Incivility

The current meta-analysis sought to summarize the empirical evidence on the antecedents of workplace incivility and was guided by two theoretical explanations of the occurrence of incivility. The first theory, the victim precipitation model, implicates victim dispositional characteristics as antecedents of incivility by arguing that victims contribute to or provoke incivility through displaying certain traits or behaviors. The second perspective posits that characteristics of the working environment can encourage or discourage uncivil behaviors among coworkers. As shown by the meta-analysis, both victim dispositional traits and situational variables contributed to experiences of workplace incivility. A test of the relative contribution of the antecedents to the prediction of incivility revealed that the situational antecedents accounted for more variance in incivility in comparison to the victim dispositional antecedents. Finally, the relationship between incivility and the situational antecedents remained stronger than the relationship between incivility and the dispositional antecedents even after controlling for a number of potentially confounding methodological variables. The implications for each of the theoretical perspectives is discussed

Experiencing, anticipating, and witnessing discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for health and wellbeing among Asian Americans

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic spurred increased racial animus toward Asians and Asian Americans (A/AA) who have since been contending with increased racism and violence. While some of the harm associated with this increased prejudice may derive from personally experienced discrimination, the COVID-19 pandemic has also been marked by an increase in vicarious exposure to discrimination as well as increased anticipation of discrimination, both of which may be taxing for the mental and physical health of A/AA. The goal of this study, accordingly, was to examine the effects of personal experiences of discrimination, vicarious exposure to discrimination, and anticipated discrimination on depressive symptoms, physical health symptoms, sleep quality, and sleep disturbances among A/AA. Results from our two-wave field survey demonstrated that experiencing and anticipating discrimination were associated with mental and physical health symptoms as well as sleep disturbances. Further, personal experiences of discrimination interacted with vicarious discrimination to determine physical health symptoms such that greater vicarious exposure weakened the relationship between experienced discrimination and physical health symptoms. These findings demonstrate the need to mobilize resources to combat the multipronged, negative implications of the recent rise in anti-Asian prejudice during the COVID-19 pandemic

Revisiting the relationship between contact and physician attitudes toward patients with opioid use disorder

Introduction: Prior research suggests that some physicians hold negative attitudes toward patients who misuse opioids and that this serves as a barrier which limits the availability and effectiveness of health care services. Interventions which improve physicians’ attitudes have thus garnered attention, many of which have focused on increasing contact between physicians and patients who misuse opioids. However, drawing on recent literature on intergroup contact, the current paper argues that contact may not have uniformly positive effects on prejudice. Methods: We surveyed 408 board-certified physicians in the state of Ohio where many opioid overdose deaths have been concentrated. We used regression to test for interactions between contact and three focal variables, bias, burnout, and stress, on physician willingness to work with patients who misuse opioids. Results: The negative relationships between bias, physician burnout, and stress induced by working with patients who misuse opioids and physicians’ willingness to work with this patient population are each exacerbated when contact with patients who misuse opioids is high. Conclusions: Although intervention studies have shown promise for the role that increased contact may have in reducing stigma toward patients who misuse opioids, these interventions may not be appropriate for physicians who are experiencing strain or who hold preexisting negative attitudes toward this patient population. Future interventions may need to target bias, burnout, and stress, in addition to facilitating contact, to increase physician willingness to work with these patients