传统观念弱化了辱虐管理的消极影响吗?——传统性的两阶段调节效应研究

Does Traditionality Indeed Mitigate the Negative Effect of Abusive Supervision? The Two Phases Moderation Effects of Traditionality on The Influence Mechanism of Abusive Supervision

以往研究认为持传统观念的员工(即传统性较高的员工)较少受到辱虐管理的消极影响,即认为传统性缓解了辱虐管理对上下级互动关系的消极影响,然而传统性缓解还是加剧了辱虐管理对员工心理福祉造成的损伤,传统性又如何影响员工心理福祉损伤与行为偏差之间的关系,这些问题没有得到关注。本文利用117份MBA学生两期调研数据和202份领导-员工配对数据进行研究发现:(1)辱虐管理与员工人格解体具有显著的正相关关系;(2)传统性加强了辱虐管理与人格解体之间的正相关关系;(3)传统性削弱了人格解体与人际指向偏差行为之间的正相关关系。与以往认为传统性缓解了辱虐管理消极影响的研究不同,本研究发现传统性加强了辱虐管理对员工心理福祉的损害,但削弱了心理福祉损伤与人际指向偏差行为之间的关系。

Affected by the historical traditional values which rooted in Confucianism,many Chinese respect and value the authority of the organization,thus cherishing the recognition of leaders and the harmonious relationship with leaders.Abusive supervision refers to subordinates' perception of supervisors sustained hostile but non-physical treatment.A lot of literatures have reported the negative effects of abusive supervision on subordinates' work outcome and well-being,such as task performance,job satisfaction,emotional exhaustion,and counter-work behaviors.Existing literature has found that traditionality mitigated the negative effect of abusive supervision.For example,some literature has found that traditionality mitigates the negative relationships between abusive supervision and outcomes including trust in supervisors,counter-work behaviors targeting to supervisors,and task performance.However these outcomes reflect how employee view and respond to abusive supervisors.Few research has examined how traditionality affected the relationship between abusive supervision and employees' well-being such as depersonalization.Ignoring employees' well-being leaves existing argument that traditionality mitigates the negative effects of abusive supervision is sketchy.To fill up this research gap,we wonder 1)the more traditional the employees are,will the depersonalization caused by abusive supervision be more or less?2)The more traditional the employees are,will the depersonalization lead to more or less individual-directed deviance?We employed two studies to examine the above arguments,the first one is multi-wave survey and the second one is multi-source survey.In study 1,data was collected from 117 MBA students in a well-known university in northwest China.Two waves of data collection were conducted.In the first wave,participants assessed abusive supervision and their own traditionality.In the second wave,participants reported the depersonalization they recently experienced.We used SPSS 19.0 to estimate our hypothesized models.In study 2,data was collected from 202 supervisor-subordinate dyads.Supervisors rated subordinates' individual-directed deviance,and subordinates rated abusive supervision,traditionality and depersonalization.Results of study 1 showed that:1)abusive management was positively related to employees' depersonalization;2)traditionality strengthened the positive relationship between abusive supervision and depersonalization,that was for individuals who were more traditional,the relationship between abusive supervision and depersonalization was stronger.Results of study 2 showed consistent results with study 1,that was the moderating effect of traditionality on the relationship between abusive supervision and depersonalization was supported.Moreover,results of study 2 showed that 3)traditionality weaken the positive relationship between depersonalization and individual-directed deviance.In specific,for individuals who were more traditional,the relationship between depersonalization and individual-directed deviance was less negative than for individuals who were less traditional.The current research contributes to abusive supervision literature in several ways.First,we found depersonalization as a new consequence of abusive supervision,and found the boundary of this relationship.In specific,this relationship is stronger for the employees who are more traditional.This finding suggests that traditionality exemplify the negative effect of abusive supervision on employees-psychological well-being,complementing existing understanding which believes that traditonality mitigates the negative effects of abusive supervision.Second,we found that traditionality mitigates the positive relationship between depersonalization and individual-directed deviance.This finding implies that traditionality constrains employees' negative behavior due to reduced psychological well-being.In all,we provide a comprehensive understanding on the role of traditionality in the effect of abusive supervision,which is meaningful for leadership literature and managers.