Who Suffers When Supervisors are Unhappy? The Roles of Leader–Member Exchange and Abusive Supervision

Su-Ying Pan () and Katrina Jia Lin ()
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Su-Ying Pan: Macau University of Science and Technology
Katrina Jia Lin: National University of Singapore

Journal of Business Ethics, 2018, vol. 151, issue 3, No 12, 799-811

Abstract: Abstract Driven by the cognitive-neoassociationistic model of aggression (Berkowitz in Psychol Bull 106:59–73, 1989; Am Psychol 45: 494–503, 1990), this study examines how supervisors’ negative affect at work influences their interaction with subordinates (i.e., abusive supervision), which further affects subordinate outcomes (i.e., negative affect at work, job satisfaction, and personal initiative). Drawing upon research on power/resource interdependence and victim precipitation theory, we also test whether the positive relationship between supervisors’ negative affect and abusive supervision is moderated by leader–member exchange (LMX). Using one hundred and eighty supervisor–subordinate dyads from five hotels, we found that, (a) supervisors’ negative affect at work was positively related to abusive supervision, (b) LMX buffered the positive association between supervisors’ negative affect and abusive supervision, and (c) the indirect effects of supervisors’ negative affect on subordinate outcomes (higher negative affect at work, lower job satisfaction, and fewer personal initiatives) via abusive supervision was buffered by LMX, such that the indirect effects were only found in dyads with lower LMX, but not in dyads with higher LMX. Theoretical contributions and practical implications for managers and organizations were also discussed.

Keywords: Abusive supervision; Cognitive-neoassociationistic model of aggression; Job satisfaction; Leader–member exchange; Negative affect; Personal initiative; Supervisor–subordinate dyads (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3247-y

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