Affective States and Work Attitudes Linking Abusive Supervision to Employee Performance and the Impact of Ethical Climate on Abusive Supervision and Work Attitudes

Authors

Armando Falcon, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Psychology

First Advisor's Name

Chockalingam Viswesvaran

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Valentina Bruk-Lee

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Asia Eaton

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Hock-peng Sin

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

abusive supervision, job performance, affective states, mediation

Date of Defense

6-6-2019

Abstract

Prior research indicates that abusive supervision (AS, Tepper, 2000) is associated with employee job performance. On the other hand, ethical organizational climate (EOC; Victor & Cullen, 1988) has yet to be investigated in the context of AS. The objective of the present study is to evaluate, within a general sample of US employees, (1) the relative strength of specific indirect effects of AS on performance via positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect, and via work-related attitudes (Leader-member exchange, LMX; Interactional justice, IJ; Perceived organizational support, POS; Affective organizational commitment, AOC), and (2) the relationship between EOC, AS, and the same work-related attitudes. It was expected that the indirect effects of AS on performance would be stronger via affect (PA, NA) than via attitudes referencing the supervisor (LMX, IJ), which would in turn be stronger than the indirect effects via attitudes referencing the organization (AOC, POS). Moreover, EOC was expected to show a negative association with AS, a positive association with each work-related attitude, and to moderate the effects of AS on the work-related attitudes. Data was collected using web-based questionnaires. Employees completed attitude measures and rated how frequently they experienced AS and affective states in the prior month. Coworkers rated job performance. Analyses take a nonparametric approach due to departures from multivariate normality. Indirect effects and pairwise contrasts between specific indirect effects were evaluated using bootstrap confidence intervals. Hypotheses involving moderation were analyzed using moderated multiple regression. Mediation analyses generally confirm prior findings when indirect effects were analyzed separately. When modeled in parallel however, only the indirect effects via NA and AOC are significant. Pairwise contrast generally failed to show significant differences between specific indirect effects. Consistent with predictions, EOC was negatively associated with AS and positively associated with each work-related attitude. Interestingly, EOC also moderated the effects of AS on work-related attitudes, albeit in a direction inconsistent with predictions. Implications for future research are discussed.

Identifier

FIDC007769

Recommended Citation

Falcon, Armando, "Affective States and Work Attitudes Linking Abusive Supervision to Employee Performance and the Impact of Ethical Climate on Abusive Supervision and Work Attitudes" (2019). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4263.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4263