Change in Newcomers’ Perceived Insider Status Over Time: An Examination of its Relationships with Abusive Supervision and Well-Being

Abstract

In a time when organizations must cope with an increasingly volatile and spatially dispersed workforce, understanding how to facilitate newcomers’ perceptions of insider status is of both theoretical and practical importance. However, knowledge regarding how and why these desirable perceptions unfold over time during the socialization period is limited. Drawing on affective event theory and feelings-as-information theory, this research derives predictions about the influence of change in newcomers’ perceptions of abusive supervision and change in newcomer negative affect toward their supervisors on change in newcomers’ perceived insider status. Furthermore, considering perceived insider status through the lens of COR theory, its change is expected to have an impact on newcomers’ well-being. To test our predictions, we used a latent growth modeling (LGM) approach to analyze longitudinal data collected from newcomers working in a variety of organizations at four times across a year after organizational entry. Our results reveal a temporal process whereby change in perceptions of abusive supervision influence newcomers’ well-being and demonstrate that changes in newcomers’ negative affect toward the supervisor and in newcomers’ perceived insider status sequentially mediate these relationships. Overall, this research illustrates the temporal dynamics of the socialization process and highlights the key role of supervisors and newcomers’ affect on newcomers’ transition from outsiders to organizational insiders as well as the corresponding impact on their well-being.