Abusive Supervision and Supervisor-Directed Deviance: The Application of Self-Control Theory

Research and theory offers conflicting perspectives on whether subordinates will or will not aggress against an abusive supervisor. To address this paradox we develop a moderated mediation model in which we posit that hostility towards a supervisor mediates the abusive supervision to supervisor-directed aggression relation, and self-control capacity and supervisor coercive power moderate the tendency to act on one’s hostile feelings towards an abusive supervisor. With a multi-wave study design, we found support for our model and demonstrate that the strongest association between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed aggression through the mediating role of hostility towards supervisors occurs when subordinates are low in self-control capacity and perceive their supervisor to be low in coercive power. Implications for the abusive supervision literature are discussed.