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A stress perspective on antecedents of abusive supervision: Blaming the organisation when exhausted supervisors abuse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2018

Boon Ching Serene Ng ,
Xiujuan Zhang Open the ORCID record for Xiujuan Zhang [Opens in a new window]  and
Zhen Xiong George Chen
Boon Ching Serene Ng
Affiliation:
Office of Administration, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Xiujuan Zhang*
Affiliation:
School of Business, Sun Yat-Sen University, People’s Republic of China
Zhen Xiong George Chen
Affiliation:
Research School of Management, Australian National University, Australia
*
*Corresponding author: mnszxj@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Drawing on the stress literature (transactional theory of stress, job demands-resources model and conservation of resources theory), this study aims to provide new insights into the antecedents of abusive supervision. We collected data from 95 supervisors with matched responses from 358 subordinates working across various industries in China using a time-lagged survey. We tested our moderated mediation model using path analyses. Results revealed that perceived workplace competitiveness triggered supervisors’ felt stress and psychological strain, resulting in abusive supervision. Two workplace constraints (climate of error aversion and organisational sanctions against aggression) were examined as moderators: a high climate of error aversion intensified the positive relationship between supervisors’ perceived competition and supervisors’ felt stress; while high organisational sanctions against aggression mitigated the positive relationship between supervisors’ psychological strain and abusive supervision. Together, these findings highlight the importance of workplace constraints and explicate how they influence resource-drained supervisors to displace their aggression onto subordinates.

Keywords

aggressionclimate of error aversionorganisational sanctions against aggression
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 27 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 361 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2018

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