Abusive supervision and workplace deviance and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs.

TLDR

Abusive supervision is conceptualized as a form of aggression. The study investigates how abusive supervision relates to various forms of workplace deviance and tests whether negative reciprocity beliefs strengthen this relationship. The authors build on retaliation and aggression theory to examine employees' reactions to abusive supervision. Results confirm that negative reciprocity beliefs amplify the link between abusive supervision and deviance, highlighting implications for workplace destructive behavior.

Abstract

In this study, the authors examine the relationship between abusive supervision and employee workplace deviance. The authors conceptualize abusive supervision as a type of aggression. They use work on retaliation and direct and displaced aggression as a foundation for examining employees' reactions to abusive supervision. The authors predict abusive supervision will be related to supervisor-directed deviance, organizational deviance, and interpersonal deviance. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. They hypothesized that the relationship between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed deviance would be stronger when individuals hold higher negative reciprocity beliefs. The results support this hypothesis. The implications of the results for understanding destructive behaviors in the workplace are examined.