I’ll show you who’s the boss : subordinate rejection as a precursor of abusive supervision

Abstract

Over the past few decades, scientists and practitioners have shown a great deal of interest in the topic of abusive supervision. The first generation of abusive supervision researchers focused on defining abusive supervision and understanding its consequences. Recently, the second wave of abusive supervision research has turned its attention to understanding what makes a supervisor abusive. The current study falls under the second wave of abusive supervision research. Drawing on abusive supervision, contextual leadership, and social identity theories, I examined the effect of rejection by subordinates (i.e. an acceptance threat) on the abusive behaviours of supervisors. Using the data collected from two samples of full-time employees and supervisors, I conducted an experiment and a longitudinal study. Overall, the results supported the claim that rejection by subordinates lead to abusive supervision via increased levels of frustration. However, the relationship between rejection, frustration, and abusive supervision did not change depending on supervisors' identification with leadership role. I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings at the end of this dissertation.