New Developments in Abusive Supervision Research

Abstract

Abusive supervision, defined as supervisors’ sustained display of hostile verbal and non-verbal behaviors, represents a significant social problem in organizations today. It not only affects the attitudes and behaviors of its victims but also exacts significant costs on organizations. Consequently, academic researchers have become increasingly interested in developing a greater understanding of the causes and consequences of abusive supervision. Although a great deal of research has examined this topic in the last decade, considerable work is left to be done. The purpose of this symposium is to address this research agenda. The contributions of this symposium do so by: (1) examining contextual (e.g., unit-level team-oriented culture), supervisor (e.g., history of family aggression), and subordinate (e.g., low performance, high deviance, high neuroticism) antecedents of abusive supervision; (2) identifying psychological mechanisms (e.g., aggressive and obliging norms, hostile cognitions/affect, self-regulation failure) linking antecedents to abusive supervision; (3) examining moderators (e.g., angry rumination, motivation to lead) impacting the relationships between antecedents, mediating mechanisms, and abusive supervision; (4) highlighting consequences of abusive supervision (e.g., employee burnout, family directed aggression, deviance, trust in the supervisor, work effort); (5) identifying psychological mechanisms (e.g., subordinates’ fairness assessments) linking abusive supervision to its consequences; and (6) studying moderators (e.g., culture) of the relationship between abusive supervision and consequences. The symposium papers use strong theoretical frameworks and a variety of methodological and analytical techniques (e.g., longitudinal and cross-cultural data collection, cross-lagged panel design, multi-level analyses, moderated-mediation techniques) in their contributions to the literature.Abusive Supervision in Context: Examining the Impact of Unit-Level CulturePresenter: Jessica L. Siegel; U. of ArizonaPresenter: Aleksander P. J. Ellis; U. of ArizonaPsychological Mechanisms Linking History of Family Aggression and Abusive SupervisionPresenter: Patrick Raymund M. Garcia; The Australian National U.Presenter: Kristin L. Scott; Clemson U.Presenter: Christian Kiewitz; U. of DaytonPresenter: Robert L. Tang; De La Salle-College of Saint BenildeEmployee Neuroticism and Performance as Antecedents of Supervisor AbusePresenter: Alannah E. Rafferty; U. of New South WalesPresenter: Sandy Hershcovis; U. of ManitobaCross-Lagged Relations between Abusive Supervision and Organizational DeviancePresenter: Huiwen Lian; Hong Kong U. of Science and TechnologyPresenter: Douglas J. Brown; U. of WaterlooPresenter: Lance Ferris; Pennsylvania State U.Presenter: Rachel Morrison; U. of WaterlooA Cross-Cultural Examination of Abusive SupervisionPresenter: Ryan M. Vogel; Pennsylvania State U., EriePresenter: Marie S. Mitchell; U. of GeorgiaPresenter: Bennett J. Tepper; Georgia State U.Presenter: Simon Lloyd D. Restubog; The Australian National U.Presenter: Changya Hu; National Chengchi U.Presenter: Wei Hua; Singapore Management U.