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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
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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

Information

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

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