The role of affective commitment and future work self salience in the abusive supervision–job performance relationship

Abstract

Drawing upon the identity‐based perspective, the current research focused on the role of affective commitment and future work self salience (FWSS) in the relationship between abusive supervision and job performance. We expected that affective commitment, which represents the organization‐based identities of employees, would mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and job performance. Furthermore, we predicted that employees’ FWSS, which represents the ease of construction and clarity of an individual's hoped‐for work‐based identity, would amplify the indirect effect of abusive supervision on job performance via affective commitment. Specifically, FWSS was expected to play an amplifying role in the abusive supervision–affective commitment path. Based on a sample of 480 salespersons, the results of a 3‐wave study revealed that affective commitment mediated the abusive supervision–sales performance relationship. Moreover, the indirect effect of abusive supervision on sales performance via affective commitment was stronger for employees with higher FWSS. Specifically, the deleterious effect of abusive supervision on affective commitment was amplified by FWSS. This was the case even when emotional exhaustion and leader–member exchange were incorporated as competing mediators. Implications of our findings and future directions are discussed.Practitioner points Organizations should pay greater attention to employees with higher FWSS because they are more vulnerable to abusive supervision in terms of their decreased affective commitment and performance. To maintain affective commitment and job performance of employees with higher FWSS, organizations should train leaders to reduce or eliminate abusive behaviours, especially for those leading teams with a majority of high‐FWSS employees.