Examining the moderating role of workplace incivility in the relationship between dark personality traits, organizational dissent, and unethical pro-organizational behaviors

This study aimed to investigate the moderating role of workplace incivility in the relationships between dark personality traits and organizational dissent, as well as between dark personality traits and unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Drawing on trait activation theory, workplace incivility was conceptualized as a trait-relevant situational cue that could make dispositional tendencies more behaviorally consequential. The Dark Triad was examined both as a composite score and at the facet level. A total of 312 white-collar employees from various private sector organizations in Istanbul participated voluntarily in this research. Data were collected between January and April 2024, using the General Information Form, Dark Personality Traits Scale, Organizational Dissent Scale, Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior Scale, and Workplace Incivility Scale. Data analysis was conducted with SPSS ver. 30.0 and PROCESS ver. 5.0. The results indicated significant positive associations between dark personality traits and both organizational dissent and unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Workplace incivility did not moderate most of the relationships examined; the only significant interaction indicated that the association between psychopathy and unethical pro-organizational behaviors was stronger under higher levels of workplace incivility, a borderline effect that should be interpreted with caution. At the facet level, psychopathy was unrelated to organizational dissent, whereas Machiavellianism and narcissism were positively related to it; all three facets were positively related to unethical pro-organizational behaviors. H1 was therefore partially supported and H2 was supported. H3 was not supported, and H4 was largely unsupported: only the interaction involving psychopathy (H4c) reached conventional significance, and it is treated as provisional. This study indicates that personality is one of several correlates of work attitudes and behaviors, and that behavioral outcomes are best understood as arising from the interplay between individual tendencies and organizational conditions. The largely null moderation results are themselves informative: they suggest that interpersonal mistreatment, at least as measured here, does not readily function as a boundary condition for personality-behavior associations, and they direct attention to other contextual candidates. It is critical to understand the types of attitudes and behaviors that employees with dark personality traits are prone to. The findings can serve as a reference for organizations to take the necessary measures to prevent behaviors that are incompatible with their organizational culture and are unethical. They may reduce the potential risks associated with dark personality traits by strengthening ethical organizational climates, promoting supportive leadership practices, implementing behavioral risk management strategies, and providing appropriate employee development interventions rather than relying solely on exclusionary recruitment decisions.