The Impact of Abusive Supervision on Job Insecurity: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Dawei Wang,Yixin Hu,Chaoyue Zhao,Phil Maguire,Yalin Chen

doi:10.3390/ijerph17217773

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of abusive supervision on job insecurity under the frameworks of the social cognitive theory and the leader-member exchange theory; additionally, it explores the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) and the moderating role of power distance. In this study, 944 employees from two state-owned enterprises located in China were surveyed via questionnaires. Results of the correlation analysis and statistical bootstrapping showed that (i) abusive supervision was significantly and positively related to job insecurity, (ii) LMX played a mediating role in the impact of abusive supervision on job insecurity, and (iii) power distance played a moderating role in the relationship between LMX and job insecurity. Based on the social cognitive theory, this study broadens the perspective of studies regarding job insecurity. It also provides practical suggestions for avoiding abusive supervision and for alleviating employees’ insecurities about management.

Highlights

The past few decades have been characterized by continual changes in people’s working conditions.When confronted with a competitive economic environment, large numbers of organizations have implemented downsizing, restructuring, reorganization, or relocation policies to enhance organizational effectiveness and reduce expenditures [1]
Based on the analysis described above, we speculated that abusive supervision influences job insecurity among employees through leader-member exchange (LMX), but that this mechanism may be affected by individual factors
We examined the conditional indirect effect of abusive supervision on job insecurity via LMX at varying power distance levels

Summary

Introduction

The past few decades have been characterized by continual changes in people’s working conditions.When confronted with a competitive economic environment, large numbers of organizations have implemented downsizing, restructuring, reorganization, or relocation policies to enhance organizational effectiveness and reduce expenditures [1]. The development of various high-tech startups requires employees to have greater knowledge of technology, which provides new challenges when employees are completing their work [2]. Given this situation, employees feel anxious due to the increasing instability in their line of work; they are fearful about their career prospects and experience a strong sense of job insecurity. Previous studies have focused more on the consequences and harm caused by job insecurity, whereas few have explored its antecedent variables [5]. Based on social cognitive theory, the aims of our study were to investigate the causes of job insecurity and to probe into its specific mechanisms

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion