Sins of the parents: Self-control as a buffer between supervisors' previous experience of family undermining and subordinates' perceptions of abusive supervision

Abstract

Drawing upon social learning theory, the intergenerational transmission of violence hypothesis, and research on self-control, we develop a model of the relationships among previous experiences of family undermining, self-control, and abusive supervision. We tested the model with data obtained from supervisor-employee matched pairs in Study 1 and matched triads in Study 2. Results revealed that: 1) supervisors who experienced higher levels of family undermining (whether reported by the immediate supervisor or a sibling) during childhood are more likely to engage in abusive supervisory behaviors as adults; and 2) this relationship is moderated such that it is stronger for supervisors with low self-control. Overall, our results highlight the role of selfcontrol in mitigating the impact of supervisors' previous experiences of family undermining on subordinate perceptions of abusive supervision, even after controlling for previously established antecedents.

Rallying the Troops or Beating the Horses? How Project-Related Demands Can Lead to Either High-Performance or Abusive Supervision

“…Other antecedents of abusive supervision include supervisors’ psychological contract violations, which can be intensified by hostile attribution bias (Hoobler & Brass, ); supervisors’ perceptions of deep‐level dissimilarity between themselves and their subordinates (Tepper, Moss, & Duffy, ); supervisor–coworker conflict, which is often attributed to a displaced response to the conflict by the supervisors (Harris, Harvey, & Kacmar, ); supervisors’ perceptions of aggressive norms within their organization, which can be attributed to the likelihood of supervisors being more ready to adopt preexisting sanctioned behaviors (Restubog, Scott, & Zagenczyk, ); subordinates’ hostile attribution styles (Martinko et al, ); and subordinates’ neuroticism (Park, ). We note further that nonwork related events can contribute to the likelihood of abusive supervision occurring (e.g., a history of family undermining), thereby indicating a potential dispositional tendency toward abusive behaviors (Kiewitz et al, ). Thus, cognitive appraisal processes appear particularly pertinent in determining whether an individual will or will not be prone to engaging in abusive behaviors.…”

Individual differences as antecedents of leader behavior: Towards an understanding of multi-level outcomes

“…An individual's chronic regulatory focus also depends on his or her upbringing (Keller, 2008). Likewise, the parents' use of undermining behaviors (e.g., insults, silent treatment) during an individual's upbringing increases his or her chances of becoming an abusive leader later on (Kiewitz et al, 2012). Intelligence as well as a wide range of physical traits depends on the genetic heritage of the family (e.g., Bates, Hansell, Martin, & Wright, 2016).…”

Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and passive leadership: The mediating role of daytime sleepiness

“…As noted earlier, sleep deprivation resulted indirectly in lower levels of charismatic leadership (Barnes et al, ). Future research could investigate whether leaders with ADHD who are experiencing daytime sleepiness might also be prone to unethical behaviours (Olson et al, ), or to abusive supervision through lowered self‐regulatory behaviours (Kiewitz et al, ). Last, we focused on the antecedents of passive leadership in the current study.…”

“…This is consistent with accumulating evidence that leaders' psychological well‐being matters with respect to the quality of their leadership behaviours (Barling & Cloutier, ; Carleton, Barling, & Trivisonno, ). For example, the effects of family undermining on subsequent abusive supervision are buffered under conditions of leaders' high self‐control (Kiewitz et al, ). At the same time, when leaders' psychological well‐being is compromised, leadership quality suffers.…”