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Dish the dirt! Dual effects of workplace gossip patterns in linking coworker friendship with incivility in the restaurant context

Mukaram Ali Khan (Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan)
Muhammad Haroon Shoukat (Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Attock, Pakistan)
Syed Sohaib Zubair (Institute of Administrative Sciences, University of the Punjab, Jhelum, Pakistan)
Kareem M. Selem (Hotel Management Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt)

International Journal of Conflict Management

ISSN: 1044-4068

Article publication date: 28 November 2023

Issue publication date: 17 April 2024

365

Abstract

Purpose

People are more likely to participate in work-related events that might cause positive and negative affective reactions. Prior research linked coworker friendship with incivility; however, few studies investigated negative workplace gossip. Simultaneously, linking coworker friendship with incivility through positive/negative affective responses is lacking. As such, this paper aims to examine this relationship via the dual mediation effect of positive and negative workplace gossip.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 398 subordinates at family restaurants in Greater Cairo were surveyed, and data was analyzed using SmartPLS4.

Findings

Coworker friendship significantly influences coworker incivility via positive and negative workplace gossip and other underlying mechanisms.

Research limitations/implications

Managers should take the initiative to decrease gossip by sharing information promptly and thoroughly and establishing effective channels for information exchange. In the case of an informal plan, restaurant managers may seek to create a welcoming and motivating corporate atmosphere and cultivate social ties among subordinates to prevent the creation of negative gossip. Restaurant managers should give victims of negative gossip timely psychological counseling.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the restaurant literature on affective emotional responses to coworkers’ judgment-driven behavior from new perspectives.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to extend the authors’ sincere gratitude to all respondents in full-service restaurants involved in this study.

Declarations of interest: None.

Funding: This research received no specific grant from the public, commercial or not-for-profit funding agencies.

Credit author statement.

Mukaram Ali Khan: Investigation, Validation, Resources and Writing-Original Draft.

Muhammad Haroon Shoukat: Writing-Original Draft, Resources, Validation, Writing-Review and Editing.

Syed Sohaib Zubair: Conceptualization, Resources, Visualization and Writing-Review and Editing.

Kareem M. Selem: Data Curation, Software, Conceptualization and Formal Analysis.

Since submission of this article, the following author(s) have updated their affiliations: Dr. Muhammad Haroon Shoukat is also affiliated with URD Research Center, University of Religions and Denominations, Qom, Iran.

Citation

Khan, M.A., Shoukat, M.H., Zubair, S.S. and Selem, K.M. (2024), "Dish the dirt! Dual effects of workplace gossip patterns in linking coworker friendship with incivility in the restaurant context", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 591-610. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-04-2023-0080

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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