Your Politics Are Making me Sick! Political Identity-Based Workplace Incivility and Physical Health Complaints during Two U.S. Presidential Elections

Two studies examined employee experiences of incivility based on their political identity, perceived political context of the workplace, and somatic physical health complaints during a presidential election (the 2008 and 2012 U.S. presidential elections; total N = 631). Results suggest that employees may be targeted for incivility because of their political identity, the political leanings of the workplace environment may be a key factor influencing the extent to which employees experience incivility based on their political identity, and there are some situations when political identity-based incivility, employee political identity, and the political leanings of the workplace combine to affect the physical wellbeing of targets. These findings highlight the relevancy of political identities in organizational interactions.