Vicarious abusive supervision and turnover in expectant working mothers: Does financial dependency trigger emotional disconnect?

Abstract

SummaryUsing a sample of 297 working mothers across three time periods (their last trimester of pregnancy, while on maternity leave, and after returning to the workplace), we examined the role of vicarious abusive supervision, beyond their own experience of abusive supervision, on turnover intentions through experiences of maternal mental health. Utilizing the unfolding model of turnover and Conservation of Resources theory, we found that experiencing the shock event of vicarious abusive supervision contributed to job‐related negative emotions as well as postpartum depressive symptoms in working new moms. Further, this experience of vicarious abusive supervision contributed to job‐related emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions, even after controlling for the mother's own experience of being targeted with abusive supervision behaviors. Finally, we examined the moderating role of financial dependence on this process and found that when working mothers' families were financially dependent on her job, the mothers were less likely to have turnover intentions. Implications for research and practice are provided.