Author: Zhenyu Liao, Hun Whee Lee, Russell Johnson, Zhaoli Song, Ying Liu

Abstract: Although destructive consequences for subordinates have featured prominently in the abusive supervision literature, scholars have insinuated that supervisory abuse may temporarily yield functional results. Drawing from research on motive attribution tendencies that underlie abusive supervision and the control perspective of repetitive thought, we develop and test a multilevel theory that delineates both functional and dysfunctional subordinate responses to daily abusive supervisor behavior. We posit that when subordinates generally attribute abusive supervision to performance promotion motives, abusive supervisor behavior during the day leads to task reflexivity that night, translating into within-subordinate increases in next-day task performance. In contrast, when subordinates generally attribute abusive supervision to injury initiation motives, abusive supervisor behavior during the day instead leads to rumination that night, resulting in within-subordinate increases in next-day leader-directed deviance. Results from 2 experience-sampling studies provide support for these predictions. By providing a more fine-grained understanding of both the adaptive and maladaptive consequences of daily abusive supervisor behavior, our research, together with prior studies, suggests that the short-lived instrumental outcomes of abusive supervisor behavior carry a substantial price, despite managers’ illusion that acting in an abusive manner could be a feasible influence tactic.

Link: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2020-29604-001