A TRICKLE‐DOWN MODEL OF ABUSIVE SUPERVISION

Much of the abusive supervision research has focused on the supervisor–subordinate dyad when examining the effects of abusive supervision on employee outcomes. Using data from a large multisource field study, we extend this research by testing a trickle‐down model of abusive supervision across 3 hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, and employees). Drawing on social learning theory and social information processing theory, we find general support for the study hypotheses. Specifically, we find that abusive manager behavior is positively related to abusive supervisor behavior, which in turn is positively related to work group interpersonal deviance. In addition, hostile climate moderates the relationship between abusive supervisor behavior and work group interpersonal deviance such that the relationship is stronger when hostile climate is high. The results provide support for our trickle‐down model in that abusive manager behavior was not only related to abusive supervisor behavior but was also associated with employees’ behavior 2 hierarchical levels below the manager.     

Abusive Supervision from an Integrated Self‐Control Perspective

We investigate the relationship between supervisors’ irritation and follower perceptions of abusive supervision. Based on the integrated self‐control framework, we propose a positive relationship between supervisor irritation and abusive supervision. Moreover, we propose this relationship to be buffered by supervisors’ self‐control capacities and by external monitoring of the supervisor by upper management. We tested our hypotheses in a two‐source survey study with 96 supervisor‐follower dyads. Our results show a positive relationship between supervisor irritation and abusive supervision and an interaction between supervisor irritation and supervisor self‐control. The interaction pattern revealed a positive relationship between supervisor irritation and abusive supervision if supervisor self‐control is low. We also found an interaction between supervisor irritation and external monitoring in predicting active but not passive forms of abusive supervision. Our findings underline the role of self‐control processes in explaining abusive supervision.     

辱虐管理的应对及预防：正念的自我调节作用

辱虐管理, 作为负性领导的典型代表, 对员工的心理、行为和绩效乃至组织的发展均会产生显著负性影响。因此, 如何有效应对和预防辱虐管理是学者和管理实践者共同关注的课题。基于自我调节理论, 以正念为切入点, 系统考察正念在员工应对辱虐管理负性影响以及预防上司辱虐管理行为发生中的作用。一方面, 采用情境实验、大样本问卷调查和干预实验检验员工正念和正念训练对上司辱虐管理影响员工负性情绪、偏差行为和绩效的调节作用; 另一方面, 采用日志研究考察上司正念对辱虐管理行为的抑制作用, 并进一步通过干预实验来验证上司正念训练不仅可以预防辱虐管理行为的发生, 而且还可以随之改善员工的负性情绪、偏差行为和绩效。预期研究成果将有助于深入理解正念在辱虐管理研究中的作用, 推进辱虐管理应对和预防研究的发展, 同时对组织制定相关的培训计划起到一定参考作用。     

Supervisory Abuse of High Performers: A Social Comparison Perspective

Prior research linking employee performance to abusive supervision suggests that supervisors have instrumental and non-instrumental reasons for engaging in abuse while dealing with low performers in the workplace. Drawing on social comparison theory, we argue that high-performing subordinates can make supervisors envious, which in turn leads to abusive supervisory behavior. Furthermore, we hypothesize supervisor social comparison orientation as a key boundary condition for the indirect positive effect of subordinate performance on abusive supervision through supervisor envy; that is, supervisors are more likely to abuse high performers when the supervisors’ social comparison orientation is high. A multi-source, multi-wave field study was conducted with data collected from supervisor-subordinate dyads (N = 95 supervisors and 385 subordinates). The data supported a positive indirect effect of employee performance on abusive supervision through supervisor envy. Moreover, the indirect effect was statistically significant for supervisors with high social comparison orientation but it was not significant for supervisors with low social comparison orientation. Implications of these findings for reducing abusive supervision are discussed.     

辱虐管理与员工表现：传统性与信任的作用

研究辱虐管理对员工表现包括任务绩效和组织公民行为的影响,并探讨员工对主管的信任和员工传统性在以上影响过程中所起的中介及调节作用。以北京6家电子制造企业中匹配的283名员工和112名主管为研究对象,层级回归分析表明：辱虐管理会破坏员工对上级主管的信任,继而降低任务绩效水平和组织公民行为;传统员工对辱虐管理的耐受力更强,相对于非传统员工,传统员工较少因为上级主管的辱虐管理而降低其对主管的信任。     

Job definition discrepancy between supervisors and subordinates: The antecedent role of LMX and outcomes

This study proposed that leader–member exchange (LMX) might encourage an employee to define job breadth close to or beyond the level of his/her supervisor's expectation (enlargement effect), while simultaneously fostering a reduction in supervisor–subordinate definition discrepancy on job content (congruence effect). Using data from 184 subordinate–supervisor dyads in Taiwan, we examined the relationships among LMX, job definition discrepancy, in‐role/extra‐role behaviour, and performance rating. Results showed that LMX was positively related to employee relative job breadth and the supervisor–subordinate congruence on job content, supporting the existence of enlargement effect and congruence effect. Additionally, employee relative job breadth was positively related to extra‐role behaviour and the congruence on job content was positively related to in‐role behaviour. However, neither in‐role nor extra‐role behaviour was related to performance rating. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

下属越轨创新对主管阻抑的影响——地位威胁感和权威主义取向的作用

主管阻抑作为一种相对隐蔽的负性领导行为,会潜移默化地削弱下属的绩效表现。有鉴于此,探索主管阻抑的发生机制,能够帮助我们更好地预防主管阻抑。本研究基于125份两时间点的上下级配对数据,探讨了下属越轨创新对主管阻抑的影响机理。结果表明:下属越轨创新会诱发主管阻抑,主管的地位威胁感在此过程中起部分中介作用;此外,主管权威主义取向对下属越轨创新与地位威胁感之间的正向关系具有显著的强化效应。     

管理者大五人格与心理契约违背对辱虐管理的影响:基于特质激发理论的实证分析

基于特质激发理论探讨管理者人格特质和心理契约违背对实施辱虐管理的影响,并进一步分析了管理者人格特质与心理契约违背之间的交互作用对辱虐管理的影响。以213份两轮时点的配对问卷为样本,通过多元线性回归方法进行实证检验,结果表明:(1)管理者的亲和力对辱虐管理有显著的负向作用,而神经质则对辱虐管理有显著的正向作用;(2)管理者心理契约违背对辱虐管理有显著的正向影响;(3)心理契约违背不但调节了管理者亲和力与辱虐管理之间的负向联系,还调节了神经质与辱虐管理之间的正向联系。     

The Relationship Between Counseling Trainee Perfectionism and the Working Alliance With Supervisor and Client

The relationships between perfectionism, counseling self‐efficacy, and the supervisory and client working alliance were investigated among 143 counseling trainees and 46 supervisor–trainee dyads. Maladaptive perfectionism was negatively correlated with the supervisory alliance and working alliance. Counseling self‐efficacy moderated the relationship between adaptive perfectionism and the supervisory alliance (perspective of the counseling trainee) and maladaptive perfectionism and the supervisory alliance (perspective of the supervisor). The authors conclude that supervisors should consider perfectionism and counseling self‐efficacy as important factors in supervision.     

Coping with Abusive Supervision: the Neutralizing Effects of Perceived Organizational Support and Political Skill on Employees’ Burnout

While research into the antecedents of burnout has steadily grown, the relationship between abusive supervision and burnout remains largely unknown. In addition, we know little about the contingencies under which abusive supervision may be related to employees’ burnout. This study aims to examine the contingency side of the abusive supervision-burnout relationship by addressing the exploratory question of whether perceived organizational support and individual differences in political skill play moderating roles in the abusive supervision-burnout relationship. The present article developed a model and tested it with data from a sample of 248 supervisor–subordinate dyads. We hypothesized and found that (1) Abusive supervision was positively associated with burnout; (2) the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout was moderated by the employees’ perceived organizational support in such a way that the relationship was weaker for employees who perceive higher rather than lower organizational support; (3) the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout was moderated by the employees’ political skill in such a way that the relationship was weaker for people with high, rather than lower level of political skill.     

When victims become culprits: The role of subordinates’ neuroticism in the relationship between abusive supervision and workplace deviance

Drawing upon the General Aggression Model, we examined the role of subordinates’ neuroticism in strengthening the relationship between abusive supervision and workplace deviance. Results revealed that Time 1 abusive supervision was positively related to Time 2 personnel records of workplace deviance measured 18 months later. Further, subordinates’ neuroticism moderated this relationship. Specifically, there was a stronger positive relationship between abusive supervision and workplace deviance for employees with high as opposed to low levels of neuroticism. These findings highlight the need to account for the role of individual differences in influencing subordinates’ responses to supervisor hostility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Goal Commitment Buffers the Negative Effects of Perceived Abusive Supervision

Abstract

The effects of abusive supervision may be more intricate than what reason would suggest. To examine why individuals may respond differently to perceptions of supervisor abusive, this study relies on goal-setting theory to present a model that accounts for the influence of abusive supervision on job performance and organizational deviance. To be precise, motivation control and self-defeating cognition are proposed to mediate the interaction of perceived abusive supervision with goal commitment in predicting organizational deviance and job performance. In particular, the extent to which goal commitment alleviates the deleterious effects of abusive supervision is examined such that when goal commitment is high, the indirect effects of perceived abusive supervision on job performance and organizational deviance via motivation control and self-defeating cognition were predicted to be weaker. The proposed model was supported by multisource and multiwave data. The understanding of when the deleterious effects of supervisor abuse as perceived by followers are likely might help the human resource personnel to adopt measures that buffer against such outcomes.     

Power Imbalance and Employee Silence: The Role of Abusive Leadership,Power Distance Orientation,and Perceived Organisational Politics

Employee silence is a costly but omnipresent phenomenon in modern organisations. In this study, we focus on two forms of silence: defensive silence based on fear and acquiescent silence based on resignation. Given the power imbalance in supervisor–subordinate relationships, we hypothesise that abusive supervision is an antecedent of subordinates’ defensive silence and that a subordinate’s power distance orientation affects acquiescent silence. We investigate the interaction effects of abusive supervision and power distance orientation on these two types of silence. Perceived organisational politics may also aggravate such interactive effects. Based on data collected from 159 junior employees in China in two periods, we find that abusive supervision is associated with employee defensive silence and moderates high-power-distance employees’ tendency to engage in acquiescent silence. When perceiving high politics in the organisation, high-power-distance employees are more sensitive to abusive supervision and engage in more defensive silence. A highly political organisational context also accentuates abusive supervision’s moderating effect on the relation between employees’ power distance orientation and acquiescent silence. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications for the silence literature.     

Supervisor Workplace Stress and Abusive Supervision: The Buffering Effect of Exercise

Purpose

We examine how supervisor stress is associated with employee-rated abusive supervision. In addition, we test the premise that higher levels of physical exercise by supervisors can buffer the negative effects of stress on their relationship with their subordinates.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A matched sample of 98 employed individuals and their direct supervisors was used to test our hypotheses.

Findings

Results suggest that increased levels of supervisor-reported stress are related to the increased experience of employee-rated abusive supervision. We also find that the relationship between supervisor stress and abusive behavior can be diminished when supervisors engage in moderate levels of physical exercise.

Implications

While the current economic conditions and a host of other trying workplace factors mean that supervisors are likely to experience workplace stress, we found evidence that they do not necessarily have to transfer these frustrations onto those they supervise. Our study supports a link between supervisor stress and employee perceptions of abusive supervision, but this is a link that can be loosened if supervisors engage in moderate levels of physical exercise.

Originality/Value

The results of this study add to the modest number of antecedents to abusive supervision that have been discovered in existing research. In addition, this is the first study to examine how exercise can buffer the relationship between supervisor stress and employee perceptions of abusive supervision.     

Status Incongruence and Supervisor Gender as Moderators of the Transformational Leadership to Subordinate Affective Organizational Commitment Relationship

Grounded in role congruity theory, we examine how status incongruence (when the subordinate is older, has more education, work experience, and/or organizational tenure than the supervisor) in subordinate–supervisor dyads affects transformational leaders’ ability to foster affective organizational commitment among their subordinates. Across two field studies, our findings show that the relationship between transformational leadership and subordinate affective organizational commitment is less positive when status incongruence is high. Furthermore, in both field studies we found a 3‐way interaction among transformational leadership, status incongruence, and supervisor gender predicting subordinate affective organizational commitment. Specifically, in Study 1 (pink‐collar employees in Turkey), low status incongruence strengthened the positive relationship between transformational leadership and subordinate affective organizational commitment for male leaders. In Study 2 (pink‐collar employees in the United States), low status incongruence strengthened the positive relationship between transformational leadership and subordinate affective organizational commitment for female leaders. Furthermore, Study 2 also revealed that collective identity was a mediator of both the significant 2‐ and 3‐way interaction effects on subordinate affective organizational commitment.     

Abusive supervision,leader-member exchange,and moral disengagement: A moderated-mediation model of organizational deviance

This paper draws from social exchange theory and social cognitive theory to explore moral disengagement as a potential mediator of the relationship between abusive supervision and organizational deviance. We also explore the moderating effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) on this mediated relationship. Results indicate that employees with abusive supervisors engaged in moral disengagement strategies and subsequently in organizational deviance behaviors. Additionally, this relationship was stronger for those higher in LMX. Important implications for management research and practice are discussed.     

Supervisor–Subordinate Relationship,Differentiation, and Employee Creativity: A Self‐Categorization Perspective

This study seeks to explore the effect of the quality of supervisor–subordinate relationship (i.e., leader–member exchange; LMX) on employee creativity by examining a moderated‐mediation model. The model focuses on the mediating role of perceived insider status and the moderating role of perceived LMX differentiation in influencing the mediation. Using a time‐lagged research design, we collected data from 358 supervisor–subordinate dyads in a large Chinese diversified company. As predicated, we found that (a) perceived insider status mediated the positive relationship between LMX and employee creativity; and (b) perceived LMX differentiation moderated the strength of the mediated relationship between LMX and employee creativity via perceived insider status, such that the mediated relationship is stronger under high‐perceived LMX differentiation than under low‐perceived LMX differentiation.     

Homonegativism and sexual orientation matching in counseling supervision

The present study examined the effects of sexual orientation matching and supervisory role on supervisory style and satisfaction with homonegativism as a covariate. Supervisory style significantly correlated with satisfaction for supervisors when trainees were heterosexual but not when trainees were lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Regardless of supervisor or trainee sexual orientation, the supervisors’ homonegativism significantly negatively correlated with trainees’ satisfaction and ratings of supervisors’ style. No significant differences in supervisory style were found among supervision dyads cross-matched for sexual orientation while controlling for homonegativism.     

Does taking the good with the bad make things worse? How abusive supervision and leader–member exchange interact to impact need satisfaction and organizational deviance

We integrate and extend past work on self-determination theory and mixed relationships, or relationships characterized by both conflict and support, to address the question of how abusive supervision promotes subordinate organizational deviance. In so doing, we propose a mediated moderation model wherein abusive supervision and leader–member exchange interact to predict organizational deviance, with psychological need satisfaction mediating the effect of the interaction on organizational deviance. This hypothesized model was supported with multi-wave data collected from 260 employees. Notably, our model was supported after controlling for justice perceptions and organizational social exchange as alternative mediators. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

When employees behave badly: the roles of contract importance and workplace familism in predicting negative reactions to psychological contract breach

In this paper, we examine the influence of contract importance, feelings of violation, and workplace familism on the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational deviance. Results from a study of 168 supervisor–employee dyads in a pharmaceutical organization suggest that (a) feelings of violation mediated the relationship between perceived breach and supervisor‐rated organizational deviance; (b) relational and transactional contract importance influenced the relationship between breach and feelings of violation such that the relationship was stronger under conditions of high relational and transactional importance; and (c) high levels of workplace familism mitigated the effects of feelings of violation on supervisor‐rated organizational deviance.