Ripple Effects of Abusive Supervision

Abstract

Abusive supervision (AS) is relentless in damaging employees’ personal and professional life. This study examines the underlying mechanism through which AS damages employees’ job and life satisfaction and, most importantly, the boundary conditions that help attenuate the cascading effects of AS. Using a sample of 187 employees from a large public sector organization, this study found that job tension transmits the antagonistic effects of AS to employees’ job and life satisfaction. However, these effects were low for employees who were high rather than low in the personality trait of resilience. The study contributes to the AS literature by explicating job tension as one possible underlying mechanism and resilience as a personality trait that helps diminish the deleterious effects of AS on employees’ job tension and wellbeing. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.