When Rudeness Breeds Rebellion: How Rumination Turns Incivility into Defiance

What is it about?

This study explores how supervisors’ rude or disrespectful behavior can prompt employees to act defiantly at work. It focuses on how employees’ tendency to ruminate—mentally replaying and obsessing over interpersonal offenses—translates feelings of mistreatment into insubordinate behavior, such as ignoring instructions or openly challenging authority. The research also examines how this process worsens when employees experience task conflict with their supervisors, meaning frequent disagreements about how to perform work duties. Using three-wave survey data from employees and peers across diverse Pakistani organizations, the study finds that employees who view their supervisors as uncivil are more likely to defy them, as they dwell on the disrespect they’ve faced. Such rumination intensifies emotional frustration, keeping negative experiences alive and driving rebellious behavior. This effect grows stronger when supervisors and employees often clash over work methods or decisions, adding tension to already strained relationships. For organizations, these results highlight how unchecked rudeness at the top can quickly spiral into resistance and breakdowns in cooperation. Managers should take steps to reduce incivility through communication training, respectful leadership initiatives, and systems for addressing workplace grievances early. Encouraging mindfulness and emotional regulation among employees may also help them avoid becoming stuck in cycles of rumination that fuel defiance and conflict escalation.

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Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The uniqueness of this study lies in identifying rumination as a key psychological mechanism that explains why supervisor incivility leads to insubordination. Rather than focusing solely on direct emotional reactions, it uncovers how persistent mental replay of negative treatment drives employees to violate authority boundaries. The study also clarifies that task conflict intensifies this pattern, offering a nuanced view of how relational and task-based tensions jointly shape destructive dynamics between supervisors and subordinates. The timeliness of this research arises from the increasing prevalence of workplace incivility and the growing awareness of its organizational costs. As employees face mounting stress and blurred power hierarchies, small acts of disrespect can spark larger cycles of defiance. By revealing how reflection on mistreatment sustains these conflicts, the study underscores the importance of promoting civility, empathy, and open dialogue to maintain authority relationships grounded in mutual respect and emotional composure.