How does supervisor expediency elicit interpersonal aggression through turnover intention? Psychological ownership as a coping mechanism

• Published in: Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) Vol. 43; no. 27; pp. 22961 - 22977
• Main Author: Hu, Weijuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Boundary conditions; Efficiency; Employee behavior; Employees; Leadership; Psychology; Social exchange theory; Social Sciences; Subordinates; Supervisors; Turnover intention; Psychological ownership; Supervisor expediency; Job demands-resources theory; Interpersonal aggression; Displaced aggression theory
• ISSN: 1046-1310; 1936-4733
• DOI: 10.1007/s12144-024-06025-1

Underpinned in the displaced aggression theory, the study explores the influence of supervisor expediency (SE) on employee turnover intention (TI), which in turn, fosters interpersonal aggression (IA) in the workplace. Besides, given the significant role of psychological ownership (PO) as a buffering agent, this study relies on the job demands-resources theory to explore PO’s moderating effect in dealing with workplace aggression triggered by SE. For this purpose, the authors collected data from lower- and- middle-level managerial workers ( N  = 429) using a lagged research design spanning multiple waves. Data collected from Chinese service employees in the healthcare industry are processed using the multivariate analytical techniques. Our results confirm SE’s significant positive impact on TI. Moreover, IA is also positively influenced by TI, triggered by SE. In addition, the study also finds that employees who draw on their psychological resource, i.e., PO, are more likely to mitigate the adverse effects of SE on IA through TI than those who lack PO. The study is critical because it unveils the hitherto determinantal influence of SE on employee TI and IA and presents PO as a coping mechanism to deal with workplace stressors.