Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-07T10:46:04.231Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can't stop eating my feelings: the maladaptive responses of abused employees toward abusive supervision

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2022

Hussain Tariq Open the ORCID record for Hussain Tariq [Opens in a new window] ,
Asfia Obaid ,
Muhammad Burhan ,
Muhammad Subhan  and
Sumbal Babar
Hussain Tariq*
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Marketing, KFUPM Business School, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, KSA Interdisciplinary Research Center for Finance and Digital Economy (IRC-FDE), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, KSA
Asfia Obaid
Affiliation:
NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Muhammad Burhan
Affiliation:
Department of Management, Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK
Muhammad Subhan
Affiliation:
NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Sumbal Babar
Affiliation:
NUST Business School, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
*
Author for correspondence: Hussain Tariq, E-mail: Hussain.tariq@kfupm.edu.sa
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although organizational research on abusive supervision and its detrimental effects on individuals and organizations has become increasingly popular, little attention has been paid to the maladaptive responses of subordinates to abusive supervision. We build upon self-regulatory theory to investigate one common but overlooked maladaptive response of subordinates to abusive supervision: subordinate overeating behavior. We conducted a single-source, multi-wave daily diary study on 10 consecutive working days (N = 115 employees and 1150 daily surveys) to investigate the relationship between abusive supervision and overeating behavior via a subordinate's negative mood at the high versus low values of subordinate's recovery experiences. We, from the perspective of self-regulatory impairment, found that a subordinate's perceptions of abusive supervision instill a sense of negative mood, which in turn render a loss of control over his/her behavioral intentions toward overeating behavior. Moreover, the first-stage moderation results demonstrated that recovery experiences at the workplace mitigate the depleting effects of abusive supervision. Abused subordinates are less susceptible to the effects of abusive supervision on overeating behavior via their negative moods when there are greater recovery experiences at the workplace. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Keywords

Abusive supervisionnegative moodovereating behaviorrecovery experiences
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , May 2023 , pp. 504 - 521
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmad, B., Tariq, H., Weng, Q. D., Shillamkwese, S. S., & Sohail, N. (2019). When a proximate starts to gossip: Instrumentality considerations in the emergence of abusive supervision. Employee Relations, 41(5), 851–875.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmed, Q., Sumbal, M. S., Akhtar, M. N., & Tariq, H. (2021). Abusive supervision and the knowledge worker productivity: The mediating role of knowledge management processes. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(10), 2506–2522.10.1108/JKM-08-2020-0632CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barber, L. K., Taylor, S. G., Burton, J. P., & Bailey, S. F. (2017). A self-regulatory perspective of work-to-home undermining spillover/crossover: Examining the roles of sleep and exercise. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(5), 753–763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnes, C. M. (2012). Working in our sleep: Sleep and self-regulation in organizations. Organizational Psychology Review, 2(3), 234–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, C. M., Lucianetti, L., Bhave, D. P., & Christian, M. S. (2015). ‘You wouldn't like me when I'm sleepy’: Leaders’ sleep, daily abusive supervision, and work unit engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 58(5), 1419–1437.10.5465/amj.2013.1063CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, C. M., Wagner, D. T., & Ghumman, S. (2012). Borrowing from sleep to pay work and family: Expanding time-based conflict to the broader nonwork domain. Personnel Psychology, 65(4), 789–819.10.1111/peps.12002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Ego depletion and self-regulation failure: A resource model of self- control. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 27(2), 281–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(5), 1252–1265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R. F., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (2000). Ego depletion: A resource model of volition, self-regulation, and controlled processing. Social Cognition, 18(2), 130–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beal, D. J., Weiss, H. M., Barros, E., & MacDermid, S. M. (2005). An episodic process model of affective influences on performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), 1054–1068.10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1054CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88(3), 588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burton, J. P., Hoobler, J. M., & Scheuer, M. L. (2012). Supervisor workplace stress and abusive supervision: The buffering effect of exercise. Journal of Business and Psychology, 27(3), 271–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrne, B. M., & Van de Vijver, F. J. (2010). Testing for measurement and structural equivalence in large-scale cross-cultural studies: Addressing the issue of nonequivalence. International Journal of Testing, 10(2), 107–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canetti, L., Bachar, E., & Berry, E. M. (2002). Food and emotion. Behavioural Processes, 60(2), 157–164.10.1016/S0376-6357(02)00082-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carlson, D., Ferguson, M., Hunter, E., & Whitten, D. (2012). Abusive supervision and work– family conflict: The path through emotional labor and burnout. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(5), 849–859.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlson, D. S., Ferguson, M., Perrewé, P. L., & Whitten, D. (2011). The fallout from abusive supervision: An examination of subordinates and their partners. Personnel Psychology, 64(4), 937–961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colles, S. L., Dixon, J., & O'brien, P. (2007). Night eating syndrome and nocturnal snacking: Association with obesity, binge eating and psychological distress. International Journal of Obesity, 31(11), 1722–1730.10.1038/sj.ijo.0803664CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Courtright, S. H., Gardner, R. G., Smith, T. A., McCormick, B. W., & Colbert, A. E. (2016). My family made me do it: A cross-domain, self-regulatory perspective on antecedents to abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 59(5), 1630–1652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, O. B., Eden, D., Westman, M., Cohen-Charash, Y., Hammer, L. B., Kluger, A. N., … Perrewé, P. L. (2010). Sabbatical leave: Who gains and how much? Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5), 953–964.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Sonnentag, S., & Fullagar, C. J. (2012). Work-related flow and energy at work and at home: A study on the role of daily recovery. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33(2), 276–295.10.1002/job.760CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derks, D., & Bakker, A. B. (2014). Smartphone use, work–home interference, and burnout: A diary study on the role of recovery. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 63(3), 411–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12(1), 1–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eissa, G., & Lester, S. W. (2017). Supervisor role overload and frustration as antecedents of abusive supervision: The moderating role of supervisor personality. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(3), 307–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enders, C. K., & Tofighi, D. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12(2), 121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fritz, C., & Sonnentag, S. (2005). Recovery, health, and job performance: Effects of weekend experiences. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(3), 187–199.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fritz, C., & Sonnentag, S. (2006). Recovery, well-being, and performance-related outcomes: The role of workload and vacation experiences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 936–945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Harris, K. J., Kacmar, K. M., & Zivnuska, S. (2007). An investigation of abusive supervision as a predictor of performance and the meaning of work as a moderator of the relationship. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(3), 252–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, P., Harris, K. J., Gillis, W. E., & Martinko, M. J. (2014). Abusive supervision and the entitled employee. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(2), 204–217.10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.08.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, A. (2013). Methodology in the social sciences: Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Herman, C., Polivy, J., & Leone, T. (2005). The psychology of overeating. In Mela, D. (Ed.), Food, diet and obesity (pp. 115–136). Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hesslink, R. (2016). Eat less, sleep more, and slow down. Hesslink Publishing.Google Scholar
Hongbo, L., Waqas, M., & Tariq, H. (2019). From victim to saboteur: Testing a moderated mediation model of perceived undermining, state hostility, and service sabotage. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 29(1), 2–21. doi: 10.1108/JSTP-02-2018-0030CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoobler, J. M., & Brass, D. J. (2006). Abusive supervision and family undermining as displaced aggression. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(5), 1125–1133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, R. E., Venus, M., Lanaj, K., Mao, C., & Chang, C.-H. (2012). Leader identity as an antecedent of the frequency and consistency of transformational, consideration, and abusive leadership behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(6), 1262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khan, A. K., Moss, S., Quratulain, S., & Hameed, I. (2018). When and how subordinate performance leads to abusive supervision: A social dominance perspective. Journal of Management, 44(7), 2801–2826. doi: 10.1177/0149206316653930CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, S., Haines, P. S., Siega-Riz, A. M., & Popkin, B. M. (2003). The Diet Quality Index – International (DQI-I) provides an effective tool for cross-national comparison of diet quality as illustrated by China and the United States. The Journal of Nutrition, 133(11), 3476–3484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lanaj, K., Johnson, R. E., & Barnes, C. M. (2014). Beginning the workday yet already depleted? Consequences of late-night smartphone use and sleep. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 124(1), 11–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lian, H., Brown, D. J., Ferris, D. L., Liang, L. H., Keeping, L. M., & Morrison, R. (2014). Abusive supervision and retaliation: A self-control framework. Academy of Management Journal, 57(1), 116–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, D., Liao, H., & Loi, R. (2012). The dark side of leadership: A three-level investigation of the cascading effect of abusive supervision on employee creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 55(5), 1187–1212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, Y., Song, Y., Koopmann, J., Wang, M., Chang, C.-H. D., & Shi, J. (2017). Eating your feelings? Testing a model of employees’ work-related stressors, sleep quality, and unhealthy eating. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(8), 1237–1258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, W., Zhang, P., Liao, J., Hao, P., & Mao, J. (2016). Abusive supervision and employee creativity: The mediating role of psychological safety and organizational identification. Management Decision, 54(1), 130–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinko, M. J., Harvey, P., Brees, J. R., & Mackey, J. (2013). A review of abusive supervision research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 34(S1), S120–S137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mawritz, M., Greenbaum, R., Butts, M. M., & Graham, K. A. (2017). I just can't control myself: A self-regulation perspective on the abuse of deviant employees. Academy of Management Journal, 60(4), 1482–1503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meier, L. L., & Gross, S. (2015). Episodes of incivility between subordinates and supervisors: Examining the role of self-control and time with an interaction-record diary study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(8), 1096–1113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mojza, E. J., Lorenz, C., Sonnentag, S., & Binnewies, C. (2010). Daily recovery experiences: The role of volunteer work during leisure time. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 15(1), 60–74.10.1037/a0017983CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muraven, M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle? Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 247–259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nandkeolyar, A. K., Shaffer, J. A., Li, A., Ekkirala, S., & Bagger, J. (2014). Surviving an abusive supervisor: The joint roles of conscientiousness and coping strategies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(1), 138–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539–569. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42(1), 185–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raudenbush, S. W. (2004). HLM 6: Hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Scientific Software International.Google Scholar
Restubog, S. L. D., Scott, K. L., & Zagenczyk, T. J. (2011). When distress hits home: The role of contextual factors and psychological distress in predicting employees’ responses to abusive supervision. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(4), 713–729.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rusting, C. L., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1998). Regulating responses to anger: Effects of rumination and distraction on angry mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(3), 790–803.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schreiber, J. B., Nora, A., Stage, F. K., Barlow, E. A., & King, J. (2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(6), 323–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shillamkwese, S. S., Tariq, H., Obaid, A., Weng, Q., & Garavan, T. N. (2020). It's not me, it's you: Testing a moderated mediation model of subordinate deviance and abusive supervision through the self-regulatory perspective. Business Ethics: A European Review, 29(1), 227–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonnentag, S. (2003). Recovery, work engagement, and proactive behavior: A new look at the interface between nonwork and work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 518–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonnentag, S., & Binnewies, C. (2013). Daily affect spillover from work to home: Detachment from work and sleep as moderators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(2), 198–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonnentag, S., Binnewies, C., & Mojza, E. J. (2008). ‘ Did you have a nice evening?’ A day-level study on recovery experiences, sleep, and affect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(3), 674–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonnentag, S., & Natter, E. (2004). Flight attendants’ daily recovery from work: Is there no place like home? International Journal of Stress Management, 11(4), 366–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tariq, H., & Ding, D. (2018). Why am I still doing this job? The examination of family motivation on employees’ work behaviors under abusive supervision. Personnel Review, 47(2), 378–402. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-07-2016-0162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tariq, H., & Weng, Q. (2018). Accountability breeds response-ability: Instrumental contemplation of abusive supervision. Personnel Review, 47(5), 1019–1042. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-05-2017-0149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tariq, H., Weng, Q., Garavan, T. N., Obaid, A., & Hassan, W. (2020). Another sleepless night: Does a leader's poor sleep lead to subordinate's poor sleep? A spillover/crossover perspective. Journal of Sleep Research, 29(1), e12904.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tariq, H., Weng, Q., Ilies, R., & Khan, A. K. (2021). Supervisory abuse of high performers: A social comparison perspective. Applied Psychology, 70(1), 280–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, B. J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43(2), 178–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, B. J. (2007). Abusive supervision in work organizations: Review, synthesis, and research agenda. Journal of Management, 33(3), 261–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, B. J., Duffy, M. K., Henle, C. A., & Lambert, L. S. (2006a). Procedural injustice, victim precipitation, and abusive supervision. Personnel Psychology, 59(1), 101–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, B. J., Moss, S. E., & Duffy, M. K. (2011). Predictors of abusive supervision: Supervisor perceptions of deep-level dissimilarity, relationship conflict, and subordinate performance. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 279–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, B. J., Simon, L., & Park, H. M. (2017). Abusive supervision. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4, 123–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tepper, B. J., Uhl-Bien, M., Kohut, G. F., Rogelberg, S. G., Lockhart, D. E., & Ensley, M. D. (2006b). Subordinates’ resistance and managers’ evaluations of subordinates’ performance. Journal of Management, 32(2), 185–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thau, S., & Mitchell, M. S. (2010). Self-gain or self-regulation impairment? Tests of competing explanations of the supervisor abuse and employee deviance relationship through perceptions of distributive justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(6), 1009–1031.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tice, D. M., & Bratslavsky, E. (2000). Giving in to feel good: The place of emotion regulation in the context of general self-control. Psychological Inquiry, 11(3), 149–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tice, D. M., Bratslavsky, E., & Baumeister, R. F. (2001). Emotional distress regulation takes precedence over impulse control: If you feel bad, do it!. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 53–67. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.80.1.53CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trougakos, J. P., Beal, D. J., Green, S. G., & Weiss, H. M. (2008). Making the break count: An episodic examination of recovery activities, emotional experiences, and positive affective displays. Academy of Management Journal, 51(1), 131–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trougakos, J. P., & Hideg, I. (2009). Momentary work recovery: The role of within-day work breaks. In Sonnentag, S., Perrewe, P. L. & Ganster, D. C. (Eds.), Current perspectives on job-stress recovery, (pp. 37–84). Bingley, UK: Emerald.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walter, F., Lam, C. K., Van der Vegt, G. S., Huang, X., & Miao, Q. (2015). Abusive supervision and subordinate performance: Instrumentality considerations in the emergence and consequences of abusive supervision. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(4), 1056–1072.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, M., Liao, H., Zhan, Y., & Shi, J. (2011). Daily customer mistreatment and employee sabotage against customers: Examining emotion and resource perspectives. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 312–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wu, W.-L., & Lee, Y.-C. (2016). Do employees share knowledge when encountering abusive supervision? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 31(1), 154–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yam, K. C., Fehr, R., Keng-Highberger, F. T., Klotz, A. C., & Reynolds, S. J. (2016). Out of control: A self-control perspective on the link between surface acting and abusive supervision. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(2), 292–301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zellars, K. L., Tepper, B. J., & Duffy, M. K. (2002). Abusive supervision and subordinates’ organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(6), 1068–1076.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, Y., & Liao, Z. (2015). Consequences of abusive supervision: A meta-analytic review. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 32(4), 959–987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar