Abusive Supervision and Subordinate Proactive Behavior: Joint Moderating Roles of Organizational Identification and Positive Affectivity

Journal of Business Ethics · 2019 · Volume 157 · Issue 3

Abstract

Drawing on the transactional model of stress, we propose that organizational identification and positive affectivity moderate the relationship between abusive supervision and proactive behavior. In Study 1, we collected data from a sample of 165 dentists and 41 supervisors in two Chinese hospitals. In Study 2, we used a sample of 226 employee-supervisor dyads from a large Chinese transportation company. The results of two studies showed that the interaction between abusive supervision and organizational identification on proactive behavior (personal initiative in Study 1 and organizational proactive behavior in Study 2) occurred only when positive affectivity was high. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications and indicate future research directions.

Keywords

Proactive behavior, Abusive supervision, Organizational identification, Positive affectivity

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