Coping with Abusive Supervision: the Neutralizing Effects of Perceived Organizational Support and Political Skill on Employees’ Burnout

Abstract

While research into the antecedents of burnout has steadily grown, the relationship between abusive supervision and burnout remains largely unknown. In addition, we know little about the contingencies under which abusive supervision may be related to employees’ burnout. This study aims to examine the contingency side of the abusive supervision-burnout relationship by addressing the exploratory question of whether perceived organizational support and individual differences in political skill play moderating roles in the abusive supervision-burnout relationship. The present article developed a model and tested it with data from a sample of 248 supervisor–subordinate dyads. We hypothesized and found that (1) Abusive supervision was positively associated with burnout; (2) the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout was moderated by the employees’ perceived organizational support in such a way that the relationship was weaker for employees who perceive higher rather than lower organizational support; (3) the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout was moderated by the employees’ political skill in such a way that the relationship was weaker for people with high, rather than lower level of political skill.