Abusive supervision and subordinates' physical and mental health: the effects of job satisfaction and power distance orientation

• Published in: International journal of human resource management Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 893 - 919
• Main Authors: Peltokorpi, Vesa, Ramaswami, Aarti
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 21.02.2021; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Abusive supervision; Conservation; Health problems; Health status; Human resource management; Hypotheses; Individual differences; Job satisfaction; Mental disorders; Mental health; mental health problems; physical health problems; Power; power distance orientation; Subordinates; Supervision; Supervisor-Subordinate interactions
• ISSN: 0958-5192; 1466-4399
• DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2018.1511617

We developed and tested a moderated mediation model of work and health-related outcomes of abusive supervision. Drawing on the stressor-strain framework and conservation of resources theory, we hypothesized that subordinates' job satisfaction has a negative mediating effect between abusive supervision and subordinates' physical health and mental health problems. Because stressor-strain linkages are subject to individual-level variations, we further hypothesized that subordinates' power distance orientation moderates the relation between abusive supervision and job satisfaction, such that this relation is attenuated as power distance orientation increases. We tested these hypotheses on data collected from 603 employees through three surveys over a 12-month period in Japan. The findings support our hypotheses and moderated mediation model.