How and when does exposure to uncivil behavior by citizens influence risk-taking behavior and how organizations can mitigate this phenomenon? Drawing on the Affective Events Theory (AET) and the Job Demand-Resources (JD-R) perspective, we develop and test a comprehensive model to test the effects of citizen incivility on individuals’ risk-taking behavior on and off the job. Our model is supported by two main studies (a four-wave field study involving 303 firefighters and an experiment involving 480 nurses). Results indicate that citizen incivility positively affects individuals’ risk-taking behavior on and off the job, through the mediating effect of emotions (namely emotional exhaustion and anger). Additionally, our findings suggest that servant leadership moderates the positive relationship between experienced incivility and individuals’ risk-taking behavior. We discuss the implications of our results for theory and practice, and we provide new theoretical directions for incivility research.
