Holding Abusive Managers in Contempt: Why and When Experienced Abusive Supervision Motivates Enacted Interpersonal Justice Toward Subordinates

Su-Ying Pan (), Katrina Jia Lin (), Daniel J. McAllister () and Ying Xia ()
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Su-Ying Pan: Macau University of Science and Technology
Katrina Jia Lin: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Daniel J. McAllister: National University of Singapore
Ying Xia: Nanjing University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024, vol. 192, issue 2, No 7, 361 pages

Abstract: Abstract Whereas past research on the trickle-down diffusion of abusive supervision has demonstrated that abused supervisors often translate the abuse that they experience from their managers downward to their followers, we examine the active involvement of abused supervisors through leading in a more principled and positive manner. Adopting the sociofunctional perspective on emotions, we propose that supervisors who feel contempt for their abusers and are morally attentive will be motivated to morally differentiate themselves from perpetrators by treating their subordinates with greater, rather than less, interpersonal justice. Four studies, including two survey-based studies and two scenario-based experiments, based on data collected in China and the United Kingdom show consistent evidence supporting the overall moderated mediation model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: Abusive supervision; Contempt; Interpersonal justice toward subordinates; Moral attentiveness; Moral differentiation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05528-4

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