A Multilevel Study of Abusive Supervision, Norms, and Personal Control on Counterproductive Work Behavior: A Theory of Planned Behavior Approach

Abstract

Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) is defined as behavior that harms organizations and people in organizations. There has been a growing interest among scholars in understanding CWB from a multilevel perspective. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, this article reports results from two multilevel studies of how abusive supervision, workgroup CWB norms, and personal control influence CWB independently and how these three factors intertwine to predict CWB. In two studies (Study 1 was single-source with 597 employees from 31 work groups and Study 2 was multisource with 345 employees from 62 work groups), we consistently found that abusive supervision was positively related to CWB, and that high CWB norms was not only positively related to CWB, but also strengthened the abusive supervision–CWB link. Furthermore, the combination of strong workgroup CWB norms within groups and high personal control were found to have the greatest facilitating effect on CWB in response to abusive supervision.