The Buffering Effect of Mindfulness on Abusive Supervision and Creative Performance: A Social Cognitive Framework.

Xiaoming Zheng,Xin Liu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01588

Abstract

Our research draws upon social cognitive theory and incorporates a regulatory approach to investigate why and when abusive supervision influences employee creative performance. The analyses of data from multiple time points and multiple sources reveal that abusive supervision hampers employee self-efficacy at work, which in turn impairs employee creative performance. Further, employee mindfulness buffers the negative effects of abusive supervision on employee self-efficacy at work as well as the indirect effects of abusive supervision on employee creative performance. Our findings have implications for both theory and practice. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

Highlights

Creative performance, which is conceptualized as the development of useful and novel ideas regarding procedures, products, or services (Amabile et al, 1996; Zhou and George, 2001; Zhou, 2003), plays a pivotal role in organizations
Drawing from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986), our research proposes that abusive supervision undermines employee creative performance by decreasing employee self-efficacy at work
Analyses of data collected at multiple time points and from multiple sources indicated that abusive supervision was negatively related to employee self-efficacy at work; self-efficacy at work mediated the relationship between abusive supervision and employee creative performance; employee mindfulness buffered the negative impact of abusive supervision on employee self-efficacy at work; and employee mindfulness further moderated the mediating mechanism of self-efficacy at work on the relation between abusive supervision and employee creative performance

Summary

Introduction

Creative performance, which is conceptualized as the development of useful and novel ideas regarding procedures, products, or services (Amabile et al, 1996; Zhou and George, 2001; Zhou, 2003), plays a pivotal role in organizations. In view of the Abusive Supervision, Creative Performance, and Mindfulness minimal extant research in this area, more studies are warranted that enrich the literature by developing an integrated theoretical model and exploring other mediating mechanisms as well as boundary conditions (Liu et al, 2012; Zhang et al, 2014). Creative performance is critical for organizations’ competitive advantage (Tierney et al, 1999; Kijkuit and Van Den Ende, 2007; Shalley et al, 2009), and abusive supervision is a very common phenomenon that has dysfunctional effects on organizations (for reviews, see Tepper, 2007; Martinko et al, 2013; Zhang and Liao, 2015; Mackey et al, 2017). Managers are highly concerned about how to buffer the detrimental effects of abusive supervision on creative performance

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Conclusion