My Family Made Me Do It: A Cross-Domain, Self-Regulatory Perspective on Antecedents to Abusive Supervision

TLDR

Prior research on abusive supervision has focused mainly on work‑related factors, whereas this study examines a cross‑domain antecedent. The study introduces ego depletion from family‑work conflict as a new theoretical explanation for abusive supervision. The authors conducted two studies—a lagged survey at a Fortune 500 company and an experience sampling across multiple organizations—to test the FWC–ego depletion–abusive supervision link, controlling for alternative mechanisms and examining gender and situation control moderators. The studies found that family‑work conflict predicts abusive supervision, with ego depletion mediating the relationship and gender and situation control moderating it, and that supervisors experiencing FWC exhibited more abusive behaviors, especially female supervisors and those in high‑control environments.

Abstract

Drawing on resource drain theory, we introduce self-regulatory resource (ego) depletion stemming from family–work conflict (FWC) as an alternative theoretical perspective on why supervisors behave abusively toward subordinates. Our two-study examination of a cross-domain antecedent of abusive supervision stands in contrast to prior research, which has focused primarily on work-related factors that influence abusive supervision. Further, our investigation shows how ego depletion is proximally related to abusive supervision. In the first study, conducted at a Fortune 500 company and designed as a lagged survey study, we found that, after controlling for alternative theoretical mechanisms, supervisors who experienced FWC displayed more abusive behaviors toward subordinates, and that this relationship was stronger for female supervisors and for supervisors who operated in environments with greater situation control. These results were then replicated and expanded in an experience sampling study using a multi-organization sample of supervisors. This allowed us to study the FWC–abusive supervision relationship as it emerged on a day-to-day basis and to examine ego depletion as an explanatory mechanism. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that FWC was associated with abusive supervision, ego depletion acted as a mediator of the FWC–abusive supervision relationship, and that gender and situation control served as moderators.