When a proximate starts to gossip. Instrumentality considerations in the emergence of abusive supervision
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-08-2018-0225 |
| Date | 02 August 2019 |
| Pages | 851-875 |
| Published date | 02 August 2019 |
| Author | Bashir Ahmad,Hussain Tariq,Qingxiong (Derek) Weng,Samson Samwel Shillamkwese,Nadeem Sohail |
When a proximate
starts to gossip
Instrumentality considerations in the
emergence of abusive supervision
Bashir Ahmad
Lyallpur Business School, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Hussain Tariq
NUST Business School,
National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan and
School of Management,
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
Qingxiong (Derek) Weng and Samson Samwel Shillamkwese
School of Management,
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China, and
Nadeem Sohail
University Community College, Government College University,
Faisalabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –Based on revenge theory and the three objectives of social interaction theory of aggression, the purpose
of this paper is to develop a framework to answer why and when a subordinate’sown behaviour instigates abuse at
the workplace. In particular, the authors argue that subordinate gossip behaviourinstils in supervisors a thought of
revenge towards that subordinate, which, in turn, leads to abusive supervision. Specifically, this hypothesised
relationship is augmented when the supervisor feels close to the gossiper (i.e. psychological proximity).
Design/methodology/approach –The authors conducted two independent studies to test the moderated
mediation model, which collectively investigate why and when subordinate gossip behaviour provokes
abusive supervision in the workplace. A lagged study (i.e. Study 1: 422 supervisors and subordinates) in a
large retail company and an experience sampling study (i.e. Study 2: 96 supervisors and subordinates with
480 daily surveys) in multiple organisations provide support for the moderated mediation model.
Findings –The two-study (i.e. a lagged study and an experience sampling study) findings support the
integrated model, which has mainly focussed on instrumental consideration of abusive supervision that
influences the supervisor–subordinate relationship.
Originality/value –The two-study investigation has important and meaningful implications for abusive
supervisionresearch because it determinesthat subordinate gossipbehaviour is more threatingto a supervisor
when the subordinate and the supervisorare psychological close toeach other than when they are not. Thatis
becausewhen they are close, the supervisoris not expecting gossip behaviourfrom the subordinate, thusgiving
rise to an abusive workplace.
Keywords China, Abusive supervision, Gossip behaviour, Perceived psychological proximity,
Revenge thoughts
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Abusive supervision, which is the “sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal
behaviours [toward subordinates], excluding physical contact”(Tepper, 2000, p. 178), affects
approximately 14 per cent of US employees (Schat et al., 2006). Abusive supervision hasEmployee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 41 No. 5, 2019
pp. 851-875
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-08-2018-0225
Received 30 August 2018
Revised 8 February 2019
12 April 2019
Accepted 15 April 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
Financial support from the Natural Sciences Foundation of China (Project No. 71373251; No. 71422014)
is gratefully acknowledged.
851
When a
proximate
starts to gossip
detrimental and pervasive effects on its victims, their families and organisations (Courtright
et al., 2016). Tepper (2007) noted that such behaviour is “a significant social problem that
warrants continued scholarly inquiry”(p. 262): therefore, over the pastdecade, organisational
scholars have explored its prejudicial effects, particularly on victim attitudes, affect, job
performance and motivation (for a review see Martinko et al., 2013). For these reasons,
investigating why, how and under what conditions supervisors might behave abusively
towards their subordinates is paramount for practitioners and researchers alike such that
organisations can be positioned to prevent it.
In recent years, researchers have turned their focus from the consequences of abusive
supervision to its potential antecedents (Tepper et al., 2017). Thus, existing research mainly
has focussed on personality and perception predictors of abusive supervision with reference
to supervisors (e.g. perception of interaction justice, emotional exhaustion or traits; Aryee
et al., 2007; Hu and Liu, 2017; Lam et al., 2017) as well as subordinates (e.g. perception,
personality traits; Eissa and Lester, 2017). However, behavioural antecedents, particularly
subordinates’own behaviour at the workplace that might provoke their supervisors to be
abusive, has been significantly overlooked and has yet to be identified. It is important to
understand subordinate action or behaviour at the workplace because it represents one-half
of the dynamics in the dyadic interactions (i.e. the interactions between subordinate and
supervisor; Khan et al., 2018). Thus, recently organisational researchers have examined
subordinate own behaviours (job performance; Liang et al., 2016; Tariq and Ding, 2018;
Tariq and Weng, 2018; Tepper, Moss and Duffy, 2011) and (subordinate deviance; Mawritz
et al., 2017) that elicit their supervisors’abusive responses. Moreover, the mechanisms
linking subordinates’level of behavioural antecedents to abusive supervision have yet to be
identified. Thus, our study’s objective is to address why and when a subordinate’s own
behaviour provokes his/her supervisor to be abusive at the workplace; in addition, we
advance the theoretical and empirical literature by two means.
First, this study emphasises one common but heretofore overlooked employee behaviour
that may provoke their supervisors to be abusive at the workplace: employees’gossip
behaviour, described as “verbal or written communication that regards personal matters of
a third party”(Nevo et al., 1993, p. 975), or as “informal and evaluative talk in an
organization about another member of that organization who is not present”(Kurland and
Pelled, 2000, p. 429). Gossip is conceived as a purposeful act or tool that is used by the
perpetrators to spread malicious information about the target (Wu et al., 2015). Gossip,
(a socially undesirable activity; Noon and Delbridge, 1993), can have detrimental impacts on
both the target (i.e. negative consequences for the gossip’s target; Decoster et al., 2013) and
organisations (i.e. low productivity; DiFonzo and Bordia, 2000). Ralph L Rosnow (1977)
argued that employees may engage in gossip to manipulate their leaders with the goal of
raising their own status. In response to a subordinate’s tendency to gossip, supervisors may
engage in abusive behaviour because they may believe that abusive behaviour can be used
“to send the message that mistakes will not be tolerated”(Tepper, 2007, p. 265). Thus, based
on the above argument, we argue that abusive supervision may occur as an instrumental
reaction towards subordinates perceived as gossipers.
What theoretical mechanism explains why subordinates’gossip behaviour leads to
abusive supervision? The current literature lacks a guiding theoretical perspective on the
process through which subordinate’s tendency to gossip about their leader leads to abusive
supervision. We propose one theoretical elucidation by suggesting that the relationship
between subordinate gossip and abusive supervision is mediated by a supervisor’s revenge
thoughts. Our model’s basic assumption is that gossip is a socially undesirable act that most
people want to avoid. We propose that a subordinate’s tendency to gossip about his/her
leader may provoke the thoughts of revenge (Şantaşet al., 2018), because subordinates’
gossip can lead the supervisor to believe that subordinates view him or her negatively
852
ER
41,5
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