Indiana U. - Kelley School of Business, United States
Drawing from a temporal perspective and affective events theory (AET), this study examines how employees’ perceived trajectory (changes over time) of abusive supervision toward themselves affects their goal progress and psychological detachment via differential affective reactions of anger and relief. Moreover, in light of the social aspect of abusive supervision, this study examines how the perceived trajectory of abusive supervision toward coworkers moderates the relationships between the trajectory of abusive supervision toward focal employees and differential affective responses. We tested our research model using an experimental vignette study. The results demonstrated that the increase (decrease) in abusive supervision toward focal employees was positively (negatively) related to anger, and the decrease (increase) in abusive supervision was positively (negatively) related to relief. Also, anger and relief mediated the effect of the trajectory of abusive supervision toward focal employees on goal progress and psychological detachment. Further, the trajectory of abusive supervision toward coworkers moderated the effect of the trajectory of abusive supervision toward focal employees on anger and relief and the indirect effects of this trajectory on goal progress and psychological detachment via anger and relief. The findings of this study contribute to the abusive supervision and AET literature by providing a more nuanced understanding of how employees’ performance and well-being suffer and recover from temporal changes in abusive supervision via differential affective responses and how the social aspect of abusive supervision affects the relationships between the changes in abuse, affective responses, and performance and well-being.
