Attenuating the negative effects of abusive supervision: Resilience in the face of adversity and punishment to dissuade deviance

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-11-2021

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine an individual difference (i.e., psychological resilience) capable of attenuating the negative effects of perceived supervisory mistreatment, as well as to examine the role of subordinates' perceptions of likelihood of punishment as an organizational feature capable of reducing employees' tendencies to engage in retaliatory deviant behaviors in response to perceived mistreatment. Grounded in self-regulation theory (Baumeister et al., 1998), we hypothesized that perceived abusive supervision drains employees' resources, resulting in sub-par emotional and behavioral regulation capabilities. Thus, employees perceiving supervisory abuse were hypothesized to respond emotionally and impulsively with retaliatory deviance unless they perceived that their organization was likely to punish violations of organizational norms. Further, we argued that job tension would mediate the interactive effects of perceived abusive supervision and psychological resilience on workplace deviance. Given that psychologically resilient individuals can adapt and thrive when faced with adversity, we argued that they should experience less tension under high abuse conditions than their less psychologically resilient peers. Results provided support for the study hypotheses.

Publication Title

Emerging Trends in Global Organizational Science Phenomena: Critical Roles of Politics, Leadership, Stress, and Context

First Page

257

Last Page

270

ISBN

9781536195507,9781536191752

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