Witnesses of fellow-perpetrated rudeness in service organizations frequently engage in interactions with third parties afterwards. However, how witnessing rudeness influences prosociality in these interactions is underexplored. In a set of three studies, we show that compassion and personal distress drive prosociality toward third parties following witnessing rudeness, with neuroticism acting as a boundary condition. Studies 1 and 2 simulated (using vignettes) the context of a coffee-shop, where participants witnessed rudeness and interacted with third parties. Study 1 showed that people are more prosocial toward third parties following witnessing rudeness, exemplifying a prosociality spillover to third parties like employees nearby the target of rudeness. Study 2 showed that witnessing rudeness increases prosociality toward third parties driven by compassion for the target of rudeness, whereas personal distress reduced this effect. Study 3, conducted within a simulated social media context, replicated the findings of Study 2 and showed that participants’ neuroticism functioned as a boundary condition, pre-conditioning the indirect effects through personal distress and compassion exclusively for individuals exceeding a certain threshold of neuroticism. This research offers insights into how, why, and among whom, the effect of witnessing rudeness spills over to third parties, and discusses avenues for intervention development in rude-packed environments.
