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When Employees are Emotionally Exhausted Due to Abusive Supervision. A Conservation-of-Resources Perspective

Author

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  • Zubair Akram

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Yan Li

    (School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Umair Akram

    (Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Zubair Akram & Yan Li & Umair Akram, 2019. "When Employees are Emotionally Exhausted Due to Abusive Supervision. A Conservation-of-Resources Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-17, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:18:p:3300-:d:265314
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Stefania Fantinelli, 2020. "Can an Abusive Supervision Be a Predictor of Doocing? Comment on Akram, Z.; Li, Y.; Akram, U. When Employees Are Emotionally Exhausted Due to Abusive Supervision. A Conservation-of-Resources Perspecti," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-3, December.
    2. Alejandro García-Romero & David Martinez-Iñigo, 2021. "Validation of an Attributional and Distributive Justice Mediational Model on the Effects of Surface Acting on Emotional Exhaustion: An Experimental Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Jose Miguel Giménez Lozano & Juan Pedro Martínez Ramón & Francisco Manuel Morales Rodríguez, 2021. "Doctors and Nurses: A Systematic Review of the Risk and Protective Factors in Workplace Violence and Burnout," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Mavis Agyemang Opoku & Hyejung Yoon & Seung-Wan Kang & Myoungsoon You, 2021. "How to Mitigate the Negative Effect of Emotional Exhaustion among Healthcare Workers: The Role of Safety Climate and Compensation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-15, June.
    5. Usman Ghani & Timothy Teo & Yan Li & Muhammad Usman & Zia Ul Islam & Habib Gul & Rana Muhammad Naeem & Humera Bahadar & Jing Yuan & Xuesong Zhai, 2020. "Tit for Tat: Abusive Supervision and Knowledge Hiding-The Role of Psychological Contract Breach and Psychological Ownership," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Heetae Park & Wonseok Choi & Seung-Wan Kang, 2020. "When Is the Negative Effect of Abusive Supervision on Task Performance Mitigated? An Empirical Study of Public Service Officers in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-10, June.
    7. Mahmoud AlZgool & Qais AlMaamari & Soleman Mozammel & Hyder Ali & Sohel M. Imroz, 2023. "Abusive Supervision and Individual, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Exploring the Mediating Effect of Employee Well-Being in the Hospitality Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.

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