Based on the atturibution theory, the purpose of this study is to show that subordinates who attribute abusive supervision to supervisors will strengthen their anger toward supervisor and supervisor-directed aggression, but those who attribute it to themselves will be positive in their sympathy and forgiveness for supervisor. It is meaningful to understand the emotions and behaviors of subordinates who respond to the stimulus of abusive supervision in relation to the understanding of the cause of events (abusive supervision), which is the core of attribution theory. Thus, we tested a moderated mediation model predicting various feelings and reactions given the attribution targets of abused subordinates. Using the survey responses of 329 participants, this study found that perception of abusive supervision was positively related to forgiveness for supervisor through its association with sympathy for supervisor. We also found that self-directed attribution moderated the indirect effects for forgiveness for supervisor through the sympathy for supervisor. Our results demonstrate the relationship between various emotions and behaviors of subordinates resulting from abusive supervision, and provide theoretical implications, especially in testing the novel idea of subordinates’ sympathy and forgiveness for supervisors. Based on our results and implications, this study contributes to the field of abusive supervision research by showing the reason and mechanism for why some recipients of abuse are silent but others not.