Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling of the Relationship Among Daily Workplace Incivility, Daily Emotional Exhaustion, Self-Reported Health and Psychological Capital

Abstract

This was a daily diary study using intensive longitudinal methods to evaluate the dynamic structure of relationships among employees’ self-reported health, psychological capital, daily workplace incivility, and daily emotional exhaustion. We recruited 200 participants working in health and fitness clubs for experience sampling and had them file the same questionnaires for 10 consecutive working days. A total of 179 participants (men = 57, 31.85%; women = 122, 68.15%) completed the questionnaires, with a response rate of 89.5%, leading to 1790 data points at the within-person level. We used a multilevel location-scale model of dynamic structural equation modeling (DSEM) for data analysis. We ran the model in Mplus software (version 8.4) and found an autoregressive ‘carry over’ relationship between the previous day’s emotional exhaustion changes on current emotional exhaustion changes ([Formula: see text] = 0.067, CI = [0.003, 0.132]). Daily workplace incivility significantly and positively predicted daily emotional exhaustion at the within-person level ([Formula: see text] = 0.953, CI = [0.465, 1.489]). Self-reported health was negatively associated with a person’s mean ratings of daily emotional exhaustion ([Formula: see text] = −0.256, CI = [0.465, 1.489]) and moderated the strength of the workplace incivility effect on emotional exhaustion ([Formula: see text] = −0.201, CI = [−0.292, −0.121]). Finally, psychological capital was negatively related to a person’s mean ratings of daily emotional exhaustion ([Formula: see text] = −0.240, CI = [−0.377, −0.102]).