A sleep and self-control model of cyber incivility at work

To conduct an empirical test of a conceptual model in which sleep duration would have an indirect negative effect on cyber incivility at work, mediated by self-regulatory fatigue and moderated by agreeableness.

A 2-week daily diary study in which employees completed daily surveys in the mornings and at the end of the workday.

An observational study which measured sleep and work behaviors in the daily work lives of our participants.

One hundred thirty-one adults who were full-time employees and were also enrolled in a 2-year Executive Post Graduate Program at a university in India.

Participants completed a baseline survey which included agreeableness as well as demographics and person-level control variables. At 7 AM each workday, we sent participants the morning survey which included the sleep measure. At 4 PM each workday, we sent participant the end of workday survey which included measures of self-regulatory fatigue, cyber incivility, and day-level control variables. Participants completed a total of 945 morning surveys and 843 afternoon surveys.

Results supported our model. Sleep duration was negatively associated with self-regulatory fatigue, which was positively related to cyber incivility. Agreeableness moderated the relationship between sleep duration and self-regulatory fatigue, as well as the indirect effect of sleep duration on cyber incivility.

Employees have more self-regulatory fatigue and thus engage in higher levels of cyber incivility at work after a shorter night of sleep, especially if those employees are low in agreeableness.