Self-Gain or Self-Regulation Impairment? Tests of Competing Explanations of the Supervisor Abuse and Employee Deviance Relationship Through Perceptions of Distributive Justice

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Thau, Stefan; Mitchell, Marie S.
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School; University System of Georgia; University of Georgia
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/a0020540
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 1009-1031
• 关键词: ABUSIVE SUPERVISION; deviance; Retaliation; self-regulation impairment

摘要

Two competing explanations for deviant employee responses to supervisor abuse are tested. A self-gain view is compared with a self-regulation impairment view. The self-gain view suggests that distributive justice (DJ) will weaken the abusive supervision employee deviance relationship, as perceptions of fair rewards offset costs of abuse. Conversely, the self-regulation impairment. view suggests that DJ will strengthen the relationship, as experiencing abuse drains self-resources needed to maintain appropriate behavior, and this effect intensifies when employees receive inconsistent information about their organizational membership (fair outcomes). Three field studies using different samples, measures, and designs support the self-regulation impairment view. Two studies found that the Abusive Supervision x DJ interaction was mediated by self-regulation impairment variables (ego depletion and intrusive thoughts). Implications for theory and research are discussed.