Abusive according to whom? Manager and subordinate perceptions of abusive supervision and supervisors' performance

Recognizing that supervisor–subordinate dyads exist within a broader organizational hierarchy, we examine how the individual's role within the organizational hierarchy influences perceptions of abusive supervision. Specifically, we examine how supervisors' abusive behaviors are perceived by abusive supervisors' managers as well as abusive supervisors' subordinates. Drawing on role theory, we propose that these perceptions will differ. Further, we suggest that these differences will be reflected in different relationships between manager-rated abusive supervision and subordinate-rated abusive supervision and managers' evaluations of supervisor performance. Results from manager–supervisor–subordinate triads indicate differences between managers' and subordinates' view of abusive supervision. Further, managers' perceptions of abuse were related to supervisors' in-role performance, whereas subordinates' perceptions of abuse were related to workgroup performance. In Study 2, we replicate these findings and expand our investigation to an examination of supervisors' contextual performance. Additionally, we examine another contextual characteristic—aggressive climate—and demonstrate it influences how abusive supervision relates to managerial evaluations of supervisor performance. Future research and managerial implications are discussed.     

Supervisors' emotional exhaustion and abusive supervision: The moderating roles of perceived subordinate performance and supervisor self‐monitoring

Drawing from conservation of resources theory, this study aims to create new knowledge on the antecedents of abusive supervision. Results across 2 independent field studies within a manufacturing context (Study 1) and a customer service context (Study 2) consistently demonstrated a 3‐way interaction pattern, such that supervisors' experiences of emotional exhaustion, perceived subordinate performance, and self‐monitoring were jointly associated with subordinates' abusive supervision perceptions. A supplementary scenario experiment further corroborated this pattern. Together, the present studies illustrate a contingency model of abusive supervision's origins, highlighting emotional exhaustion as an important risk factor that is particularly likely to trigger abusive behavior among supervisors with lower (rather than higher) self‐monitoring who are faced with a relatively underperforming subordinate. As such, this research advances the abusive supervision literature by offering new insights into the complex resource conservation processes that may give rise to subordinates' abuse perceptions.     

The role of self‐regulation in the relationship between abusive supervision and job tension

Trait and state self‐regulation both have critical influences on workplace behavior, but their influences are thought to operate quite differently. We draw from social exchange and ego depletion theories to investigate the relationship between trait and state self‐regulation, as well as how they differentially affect the relationship between subordinates' perceptions of abusive supervision and job tension. Specifically, we examine (a) how the interaction between abusive supervision and trait self‐regulation affects job tension and (b) how state self‐regulation mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and job tension. Using 3 studies that include an experiment (n = 81) and 2 field studies with cross‐sectional (n = 157) and time‐separated (n = 109) data, we demonstrate that the interaction between abusive supervision and trait self‐regulation increases experienced job tension for subordinates who report higher levels of abusive supervision and trait self‐regulation than others. Also, we provide evidence that abusive supervision is indirectly associated with job tension through state self‐regulation. This study's findings have important implications for abusive supervision and self‐regulation research, as well as social exchange and ego depletion theories, because we extend our understanding of how trait and state self‐regulation affect cognitive responses associated with abusive supervision.     

Abusive supervision and work behaviors: The mediating role of LMX

We investigated the mediating role of the leader–member exchange (LMX) in the association of abusive supervision and employee work behaviors (task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors toward the organization and individuals). Using data collected from 366 supervisor–subordinate dyads, we found that LMX fully mediated the negative effects of abusive supervision on all three work behaviors. In addition, we conducted a supplementary study on the basis of the data collected from 54 supervisor–subordinate dyads from a garment company, and we found that LMX mediated the relationship between abusive supervision and employee objective future performance with interactional justice controlled. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supervisor role overload and frustration as antecedents of abusive supervision: The moderating role of supervisor personality

The current research explores supervisor‐level antecedents of abusive supervision in the workplace. Specifically, this study introduces affective events theory to the abusive supervision literature to suggest that supervisor role overload, a work‐related event, leads to supervisor frustration. As an intense negative emotional reaction, frustration, in turn, triggers supervisors to exhibit abusive behaviors in the workplace. Supervisor personality traits—namely, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness—are also posited to moderate these hypothesized relationships. Specifically, neuroticism is expected to moderate the relationship between role overload and frustration while conscientiousness and agreeableness are expected to moderate the relationship between frustration and abusive supervision. Ultimately, we propose and examine a moderated‐mediation model. Multisource field data demonstrate general support for the hypothesized relationships. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications as well as future research avenues. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Can pride be a vice and virtue at work? Associations between authentic and hubristic pride and leadership behaviors

Pride, a discrete emotion that drives the pursuits of achievement and status, is crucial to consider in leadership contexts. Across three studies, we explored how leaders' experiences of authentic and hubristic pride were associated with their leadership behaviors. In Study 1, a field study of leader–follower dyads, leader trait authentic pride was associated with the use of more effective (i.e., consideration and initiating structure) and fewer ineffective (i.e., abusive supervision) leadership behaviors, and hubristic pride was associated with more abusive behaviors. In Study 2, a daily diary study, on days when leaders experienced more authentic pride than usual, they used more effective leadership behaviors than usual, whereas on days when leaders experienced more hubristic pride than typical, they were more likely to engage in abusive supervision than typical. In Study 3, a scenario‐based experiment, leaders who experienced more authentic pride in response to our experimental manipulation were more likely to intend to use effective leadership behaviors. In contrast, those who experienced more hubristic pride were less likely to use these behaviors and more likely to intend to be abusive. Overall, this work highlights the importance of pride for leadership processes and the utility of examining discrete and self‐conscious emotions within organizations.     

Abusive supervision and feedback avoidance: The mediating role of emotional exhaustion

The occurrence of abusive supervision is steadily rising. Extant literature continues to expand the number of destructive consequences linked to such improper workplace behavior. This study tested a model linking abusive supervision to feedback avoidance through emotional exhaustion. We invoked conservation of resources theory in our examination of the role that the loss of valued resources plays in instances where abuse is perceived. Results from three rounds of matched data from 460 nurses and 220 working adults demonstrated support for our model, suggesting a mediating effect for exhaustion on the relationship between abuse and feedback avoidance. Findings also revealed that feedback avoidance was associated with subsequent exhaustion, representing a loss spiral. These findings are important as they reveal the link between a subordinate's reactions (exhaustion) and coping behavior (feedback avoidance) when supervisory abuse is perceived. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research are offered. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of regulatory fit in visionary leadership

It is generally argued that leader visions motivate followers by focusing on reaching desirable end‐states. However, it has also been suggested that visions may motivate followers by focusing on avoiding undesirable situations. In this paper we investigate the effects of appeals that focus on preventing an undesirable situation (i.e., prevention‐appeals) as well as appeals that focus on promoting a desirable situation (i.e., promotion‐appeals). We argue that the effectiveness of promotion‐ and prevention‐appeals is contingent on follower regulatory focus. In two experiments we show that prevention‐appeals lead to better performance than promotion‐appeals for more prevention‐focused followers, while the reverse is true for more promotion‐focused followers. We find this pattern for a dispositional measure of follower regulatory focus (Study 1) as well as for a manipulation of follower regulatory focus (Study 2). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supervisors' exceedingly difficult goals and abusive supervision: The mediating effects of hindrance stress,anger, and anxiety

This study examined a contextual predictor of abusive supervision. Specifically, we hypothesized that job goals that are judged by supervisors to be exceedingly difficult to attain is a predictor of subordinate‐rated abusive supervisory behavior. Drawing on the cognitive theory of stress, we hypothesized that exceedingly difficult job goals assigned to supervisors predict abusive behavior directed at their subordinates, as mediated by the supervisors' hindrance stress and emotions (e.g., anger and anxiety). We collected data from employees and their immediate supervisors to test this theoretical model (N = 215 matched pairs). The results of this multisource field study provided support for the hypothesized relationships. In particular, assigned job goals that were appraised by supervisors as exceedingly difficult to attain predicted their hindrance stress. Also, hindrance stress was positively related to anger and anxiety, which in turn predicted abusive supervision. Theoretically, these findings contribute to research on goal setting, stress, and abusive supervision. In addition, these findings are practically important in that they provide suggestions on how to minimize abusive supervision in organizations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How team helping influences abusive and empowering leadership: The roles of team affective tone and performance

Leaders' perceptions of their teams are critical sources of contextual social information influencing leadership behaviors. In this paper, we extend affect-as-social-information theory to understand how and why team helping behaviors predict leaders' mistreatment of their teams in the form of abusive supervision and positive leader behavior in the form of empowering leadership, both through leaders' perceptions of team positive affective tone. In addition, based on social information processing, we examine the cue of leaders' perceptions of team task performance as a factor that helps us understand when the relationship between positive affective tone and leadership behaviors may be attenuated. In two text-based scenario studies, a video-based scenario study, and a multisource field study, we found evidence that team helping behavior is antecedent to abusive and empowering leadership behaviors and that this relationship is fully mediated by leaders' perceptions of team positive affective tone. Moreover, our results support team task performance as a factor that decreases the degree to which affective tone is related to abusive supervision. We discuss our findings as a caution to scholars' assumptions about the directionality of leader-team influence, emphasizing the need to acknowledge upward effects in workplace mistreatment research in the leader–team relationship.     

Knowledge hiding as a barrier to thriving: The mediating role of psychological safety and moderating role of organizational cynicism

Research demonstrates that knowledge hiding has a detrimental effect on the knowledge hider himself or herself. Extending this area, the present research examines how and when knowledge hiders struggle to thrive at work. Integrating self‐perception theory and the socially embedded model of thriving, we propose that knowledge hiding negatively influences employees' thriving through psychological safety, and this influence is contingent on organizational cynicism. In Study 1a, a cross‐sectional survey of 214 Chinese participants from a general working population supported the mediating role of psychological safety in the knowledge hiding and thriving relationship. Study 1b verified this result using two‐wave data collected from 392 working adults in a panel that recruited participants mainly in Europe and North America. In addition to confirming the mediation with a two‐wave field survey conducted among 205 employees in three Chinese organizations, Study 2 supported the moderating role of organizational cynicism. Specifically, the negative effect of knowledge hiding on psychological safety was greater under higher levels of organizational cynicism, as was the indirect effect of knowledge hiding on thriving via psychological safety. These findings contribute to both the knowledge hiding and the thriving literature and provide practical implications for both the manager and the employee.     

Task type as a moderator of positive/negative feedback effects on motivation and performance: A regulatory focus perspective

Applying Higgins' regulatory focus theory, we hypothesized that the effect of positive/negative feedback on motivation and performance is moderated by task type, which is argued to be an antecedent to situational regulatory focus (promotion or prevention). Thus, first we demonstrated that some tasks (e.g., tasks requiring creativity) are perceived as promotion tasks, whereas others (e.g., those requiring vigilance and attention to detail) are perceived as prevention tasks. Second, as expected, our tests in two studies of the moderation hypothesis showed that positive feedback increased self‐reported motivation (meta‐analysis across samples: N = 315, d = 0.43) and actual performance (N = 55, d = 0.67) among people working on promotion tasks, relative to negative feedback. Positive feedback, however, decreased motivation (N = 318, d = ?0.33) and performance (N = 55, d = ?0.37) among individuals working on prevention tasks, relative to negative feedback. These findings suggest that (a) performance of different tasks can affect regulatory focus and (b) variability in positive/negative feedback effects can be partially explained by regulatory focus and task type. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee judgments of and behaviors toward corporate social responsibility: A multi‐study investigation of direct,cascading, and moderating effects

Do employee judgments of their organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs relate to CSR‐specific performance and in‐role job performance? Can middle managers influence the formation of such judgments and what factors might moderate such cascading influences? To answer these yet unaddressed questions, we conduct three studies. Study 1 takes an organizational justice perspective and tests our baseline model. Results show that employees' CSR judgments trigger their affective commitment and performance on extra‐role CSR‐specific behaviors; however, extra‐role CSR‐specific performance is unrelated to in‐role job performance. Study 2 replicates Study 1's findings while, in addition, applies a social information processing approach and offers novel insights by demonstrating the cascading effects of managers' CSR judgments on employee CSR judgments. Investments made in CSR programs in order to improve employee judgments and behaviors may be unsuccessful if employees' CSR judgments are based on social information that remains unchanged. In addition to replicating the findings from studies 1 and 2, study 3 draws from middle management involvement and leadership theories to show that leadership styles and managers' involvement in implementing deliberate strategy can strengthen or weaken these cascading effects. This highlights the important role of middle managers as “linking pins” in the CSR strategy implementation process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multilevel perspective of interpersonal trust: Individual,dyadic, and cross‐level predictors of performance

While it is generally known that interpersonal trust facilitates individual functioning, few studies have examined the role of specific features of the interpersonal trust network — individual, dyadic, third‐party, and network‐level features — on individual performance. We adopt a multilevel perspective of interpersonal trust to examine how individuals' performance is not only predicted by their individual‐level centrality in the interpersonal trust network but also moderated, at the network level, by the overall centralized nature of that network. Further, we examine whether mutual trust relationships at the dyadic level, as well as shared trust ties to common third parties, can predict individuals' performance. We test our hypotheses with 206 members in 15 professional networking groups and find that interpersonal trust operates at multiple levels to predict members' performance in terms of generating income from business referrals. These findings provide theoretical and practical implications on how interpersonal trust relationships operate and can be managed for performance gains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Picture this: A field experiment of the influence of subtle affective stimuli on employee well‐being and performance

Prior literature examining the antecedents of employee affect has largely ignored subtle affective influences in the workplace and their impact on employees' affective experiences and behaviors. A substantial body of evidence from basic psychology research suggests that individuals' affect can be influenced by minimal stimulus input. The primary objective of this research is to take an initial step towards understanding the “real‐world” impact of subtle affective stimuli in the workplace. Specifically, in a field experiment with a within‐subjects design, we collected data from 68 sales representatives and examined the effect of a subtle affective stimulus (i.e., a black‐and‐white picture of a woman smiling printed on the backdrop of paper–pencil surveys) on employees' affect, well‐being, and performance. Results showed that the smiling picture significantly enhanced participants' positive affect, which in turn influenced employees' extra‐role performance and emotional exhaustion. The smiling picture also indirectly influenced employees' in‐role performance and emotional exhaustion via negative affect. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed at the end of the paper. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Examining the interpersonal process and consequence of leader–member exchange comparison: The role of procedural justice climate

Individuals are always sensitive to their relative standing in interpersonal comparison processes of leader–member exchanges (LMXs) in teams. Little research, however, has investigated whether coworkers with a higher LMX influence the emotional and behavioral reactions of individuals with a lower LMX in different dyads. Drawing on social comparison theory and the symbolic model of procedural justice (PJ) climate, we conducted 2 independent studies—an experimental study focusing on the self‐perceived upward LMX comparison (i.e., an individual perceives that a coworker's LMX is higher than the LMX that he or she has with the supervisor; N = 203; Study 1: American working adults) and a field survey study focusing on the other‐perceived downward LMX comparison (i.e., a coworker perceives that his or her own LMX is higher than the LMX that the individual has with the supervisor; N = 177; Study 2: Chinese software engineers). Results from these studies consistently revealed that a coworker's higher LMX elicits an individual's hostile emotions when the PJ climate is low but that this relationship is buffered when the PJ climate is high. Results of both studies also showed that the coworker's higher LMX arouses the individual to direct harmful behavior toward that coworker (via the individual's feelings of hostility) when the PJ climate is low but not when it is high.     

When the abuse is unevenly distributed: The effects of abusive supervision variability on work attitudes and behaviors

The present study examined the consequences of a dispersion‐based conceptualization of unit‐level abusive supervision or abusive supervision variability. Abusive supervision variability was proposed to negatively affect a number of employee attitudes and behaviors through the mediating effects of interpersonal justice climate strength. The results revealed significant cross‐level effects such that abusive supervision variability was negatively related to individual perceptions of leader ethicality, organizational ethicality, leader satisfaction, and affective organizational commitment. These effects remained robust after controlling for individual‐level abusive supervision. Abusive supervision variability was also positively related to the frequency with which unit members as a whole engaged in counterproductive work behaviors. Last, the results revealed partial support for the mediating effects of interpersonal justice climate strength. In sum, the findings highlight the importance of examining abusive supervision at both the individual and unit levels of analyses. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rivals or allies: How performance‐prove goal orientation influences knowledge hiding

Previous research suggests that performance‐prove goal orientation is positively related to knowledge hiding. However, we argue that this effect depends on the focus of performance feedback (i.e., individual‐ and group‐focused feedback), which shapes the nature of the competitive expression of performance‐prove goal orientation (i.e., intragroup and intergroup oriented). We conducted three studies to test our theoretical model. The results of Study 1 with time‐lagged data from 128 part‐time MBA students showed that performance‐prove goal orientation was positively related to knowledge hiding when performance feedback focused more (vs. less) on individual performance but was negatively related to knowledge hiding when performance feedback focused more (vs. less) on group performance. Study 2 replicated these moderation findings in an experimental study of 210 undergraduate students. Study 3 again replicated the moderation effects using multisource data from 317 employees and their supervisors. It also included creativity as an outcome of knowledge hiding and illustrated the distal consequence of the moderation effects of individual‐ and group‐focused performance feedback. We then discussed the implications for the theory and practice of performance‐prove goal orientation and knowledge hiding.     

Antecedents and outcomes of employee perceptions of intra‐organizational mobility channels

Employees' beliefs about how promotions are awarded within their organizations can have important consequences. We conducted two studies that focus on perceptions of the criteria used to make promotion decisions. In Study 1, we identified two types of perceived promotion criteria, performance‐based and nonperformance‐based. Then we use justice and social exchange theories to develop a model linking employee perceptions of promotion criteria to performance via their relationships with promotional justice and organizational commitment. In a sample of 305 employee–supervisor pairs, we found that both promotional justice and organizational commitment mediated between perceptions of promotion criteria and supervisor rated in‐role and extra‐role performance, and that having received a promotion in the past predicted attributions that promotions were based relatively more on performance or nonperformance criteria. Study 2 further examined the role of promotions themselves in the formation of perceptions of promotion criteria. Drawing from image and attribution theories, we hypothesized that the relationship between having received a promotion or not and perceptions of promotion criteria depends on ego defensiveness. In a sample of 145 employees, we found that those who scored high on ego defensiveness and who had not been promoted were especially likely to attribute promotion decisions to nonperformance criteria. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Innovative work behavior and sex‐based stereotypes: Examining sex differences in perceptions and evaluations of innovative work behavior

Building on role congruity theory, we predict that innovative work behaviors are stereotypically ascribed to men more than to women. Because of this bias, women who innovate may not receive better performance evaluations than those who do not innovate, whereas engaging in innovative work behaviors is beneficial for men. These predictions were supported across 3 complementary field and experimental studies. The results of an experiment (Study 1; N = 407) revealed that innovative work behaviors are stereotypically associated with men more than women. In Studies 2 and 3, using multisource employee evaluation data (N = 153) and by experimentally manipulating innovative work behaviors (N = 232), respectively, we found that favorable performance evaluations were associated with innovative work behaviors for men but not for women. These studies highlight a previously unidentified form of sex bias and are particularly important for those wishing to increase innovative behaviors in the workplace: We need to address this phenomenon of “think innovation‐think male.”