Spillover effects of abusive supervision

Abstract

Abusive supervision (AS) is relentless in damaging employees’ personal and professional life. This study examines the underlying mechanism through which AS damages employee’s job and life satisfaction and most importantly the boundary conditions that help attenuate the cascading effects of AS on employee’s wellbeing. Using a sample of 187 employees from a large public sector organization, this study found that job tension transmit the antagonistic effects of AS on employees’ job and life satisfaction. However, these effects were low for employees who were high rather than low on their personality trait (resilience). The study contributes to the AS literature by explicating job tension as one possible underlying mechanism and resilience as a personality trait that helps diminish the deleterious effects of AS on employees’ job tension and wellbeing. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.