Thriving is Not All Good: The Influence of Supervisor Thriving on Employees’ Well-Being and Behavior

Abstract

Can the positive experience of thriving transfer from supervisor to subordinates in the workplace? Our study focuses on the supervisors’ thriving experience in Chinese police organizations. Drawing on crossover research and job demands-resources theory, we explore the transfer process between supervisors and subordinates and consequences for subordinate behaviors and well-being. Using matched supervisor-subordinate longitudinal survey data, our multi-level analyses reveal surprising and disquieting results. We find that supervisor thriving leads to role overload among subordinates, which in turn results in subordinate burnout and supervisor-directed deviance behavior. In addition, arising from role overload, supervisor thriving diminishes subordinate thriving. Overall, our study shows how supervisor thriving exerts a negative rather than positive effect on subordinates with adverse consequences for supervisors and the organization. This dark side of workplace thriving serves as a foundation for future work.