scholarly journals Why Not All the Powerful Abuse? The Competitive Effects of Psychological Distance and Self-Control

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caiyun Huang ◽  
Siyu Tian

Building on the social distance theory of power, this study proposed the positive and negative mechanisms of power and their impacts on abusive supervision from the competitive perspectives of psychological distance and self-control. The boundary effects of independent self-construal were also analyzed. The hypotheses of this study were tested through questionnaires and an experimental study design. The Study 1 data were collected from 422 supervisors and subordinates from five private enterprises and one state-owned enterprise in Eastern China. Study 2, on the other hand, was conducted through a scenario-based experiment in which 180 part-time master of business administration (MBA) students from a university in Eastern China participated. All data were tested using polynomial regression analysis and a bootstrapping appraisal. The results revealed that (1) the relationship between power and abusive supervision is not significant; (2) psychological distance mediates the relationship between power and abusive supervision, with high power leading to higher psychological distance, which, in turn, strengthens abusive supervision; (3) self-control mediates the relationship between power and abusive supervision, with high power leading to higher self-control, which, in turn, weakens abusive supervision; (4) the mediating effect of psychological distance is stronger, and the mediating effect of self-control is weaker when independent self-construal is high rather than low. At the end of this study, the theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 845-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi-xia Chen ◽  
Hong-yan Wang

We explored the relationship between abusive supervision (AS) and employee job performance (EJP) by conducting a survey of a group of employees (N = 630) of Chinese public and private companies. We investigated possible mediation in the relationship by leadership justice, supervisory trust, and self-efficacy from three perspectives, namely, self-concept and individual socialization, organizational justice, and leader–member exchange. The results showed that there was a negative relationship between AS and EJP that was mediated by leadership justice, supervisory trust, and self-efficacy. We also found that the negative relationship between AS and EJP was affected by the joint mediating effect of leadership justice and supervisory trust. Implications for academicians and practitioners are discussed.


Author(s):  
Zubair Akram ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Umair Akram

This study represents an important step towards understanding why supervisors behave abusively towards their subordinates. Building on the conservation of resources theory, this study investigates the impact of abusive supervision on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) from a stress perspective. Furthermore, job demands play a significant moderating effect, and emotional exhaustion has a mediating effect on the relationship between abusive supervision and CWBs. A time-lagged design was utilized to collect the data and a total of 350 supervisors-subordinates’ dyads are collected from Chinese manufacturing firms. The findings indicate that subordinates’ emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and CWBs only when subordinates are involved in a high frequency of job demands. Additionally, emotional exhaustion and abusive supervision were significantly moderated by job demands. However, the extant literature has provided that abusive supervision has detrimental effects on employees work behavior. The findings of this study provide new empirical and theoretical insights into the stress perspectives. Finally, implications for managers and related theories are discussed, along with the boundaries and future opportunities of this study.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Reisig ◽  
Katelyn A. Golladay

This study advances a multidimensional risky lifestyles scale (i.e., casual sex, drug involvement, active nightlife, peer deviance affiliation, and conflict escalation) and tests whether behaviors that bring people into contact with motivated offenders in the absence of capable guardianship mediates the relationship between low self-control and violent victimization. Using cross-sectional survey data from a university-based sample (N = 554), a second-order confirmatory factor model for risky lifestyles is estimated. Multivariate regression equations are used to test the effect of low self-control on violent victimization, and also to determine whether risky lifestyles acts as a mediator variable. The results show that the risky lifestyles scale fully mediates the relationship between low self-control and violent victimization. This observation holds across different measurement approaches and modeling strategies. Additional tests reveal that, when the scale is disaggregated, the effects of the individual dimensions of risky lifestyle vary in terms of effect size and level of statistical significance. While the multidimensional scale has sound psychometric properties, possesses robust directional accuracy, and reflects a broad array of risky behaviors, further refinement is necessary.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-174
Author(s):  
Michael D. Reisig ◽  
Katelyn A. Golladay

This study advances a multidimensional risky lifestyles scale (i.e., casual sex, drug involvement, active nightlife, peer deviance affiliation, and conflict escalation) and tests whether behaviors that bring people into contact with motivated offenders in the absence of capable guardianship mediates the relationship between low self-control and violent victimization. Using cross-sectional survey data from a university-based sample (N = 554), a second-order confirmatory factor model for risky lifestyles is estimated. Multivariate regression equations are used to test the effect of low self-control on violent victimization, and also to determine whether risky lifestyles acts as a mediator variable. The results show that the risky lifestyles scale fully mediates the relationship between low self-control and violent victimization. This observation holds across different measurement approaches and modeling strategies. Additional tests reveal that, when the scale is disaggregated, the effects of the individual dimensions of risky lifestyle vary in terms of effect size and level of statistical significance. While the multidimensional scale has sound psychometric properties, possesses robust directional accuracy, and reflects a broad array of risky behaviors, further refinement is necessary.


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