Too many firms ignore their abusive boss problem

Some think that abuse and employee fear and silence are recipes for success, argue Christian Kiewitz, Simon Lloyd D. Restubog, Mindy Shoss, Patrick Raymund James M. Garcia and Robert L. Tan

Suffering in Silence: Investigating the Role of Fear in the Relationship Between Abusive Supervision and Defensive Silence

Drawing from an approach-avoidance perspective, we examine the relationships between subordinates’ perceptions of abusive supervision, fear, defensive silence, and ultimately abusive supervision at a later time point. We also account for the effects of subordinates’ assertiveness and individual perceptions of a climate of fear on these predicted mediated relationships. We test this moderated mediation model with data from three studies involving different sources collected across various measurement periods. Results corroborated our predictions by showing (a) a significant association between abusive supervision and subordinates’ fear, (b) second-stage moderation effects of subordinates’ assertiveness and their individual perceptions of a climate of fear in the abusive supervision–fear– defensive silence relationship (with lower assertiveness and higher levels of climate-of-fear perceptions exacerbating the detrimental effects of fear resulting from abusive supervision), and (c) first-stage moderation effects of subordinates’ assertiveness and climate-of-fear perceptions in a model linking fear to defensive silence and abusive supervision at a later time. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Two DLSU faculty delivered lecture

Roberto Mendoza of the Psychology Department delivered a paper on Prostitusyon, pulitika at Pasig: isang pag-aninag sa salitang marumi during the Pambansang Samahan sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino on the theme Kapaligiran, kabuhayan at kulturang Pilipino . Simon Lloyd Restubog, Center for Educational Evaluation and Research Director of the DLSU-CSB, was co-author of the lecture.Date of the event was on December 11-14, 1997

The emotional pay-off of staying gritty: linking grit with social-emotional learning and emotional well-being

There is a dearth of research on how alternative models of grit predict well-being outcomes. In this research, we examine associations among the Triarchic Model of Grit dimensions (i.e. perseverance of effort, consistency of interests, and adaptability to situations) and positive and negative emotions. We also explore the mediating role of social-emotional learning in these relationships. Data collected from 1351 high school students from the Philippines showed that perseverance and adaptability were positively related to social-emotional learning, while consistency was negatively associated with social-emotional learning. Further analysis showed that perseverance and adaptability were indirectly related to positive emotions via social-emotional learning. Overall, these findings demonstrate the need to adopt culturally-sensitive models of grit for student populations in Asian cultural contexts

Beyond tit-for-tat: Theorizing divergent employee reactions to customer mistreatment

Customer mistreatment is a ubiquitous and pernicious form of interpersonal mistreatment leveled by customers against employees. Service workers’ reactions to customer mistreatment have been traditionally viewed as tit-for-tat reactions in which service workers respond to customers’ aggression with retaliation in kind. However, this tit-for-tat account does not capture the broad range of possible service worker responses to customer misbehavior. We build the case for self-esteem threat as an overarching framework for divergent employee reactions to customer mistreatment, and explain how service workers’ behavioral reactions and emotional labor may systematically vary according to where service workers stake their self-esteem—in performance, in others’ approval, or in status—using contingencies of self-worth theory. Other features of the self-concept are identified as boundary conditions of the process

How employee perceptions of HR policy and practice influence discretionary work effort and co-worker assistance: evidence from two organizations

Drawing on social identity theory and organizational justice research, we model the impact of employee perceptions of human resource (HR) policies and practices on two important outcome variables - discretionary work effort (DWE) and co-worker assistance (CWA). Results based on 618 full-time employees in two organizations show that HR practices are positively related to procedural and distributive justice and that organizational identification mediates the relationship between procedural and distributive justice and DWE and CWA, respectively. Distributive justice is also shown to have direct effects on the two outcome variables suggesting the relevance of a social exchange perspective as a complement to social identity explanations. Implications for research and practice are briefly discussed

Attitudinal outcomes of boundary permeability: A comparison of Australian and Singaporean employees

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of culture in the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and work group identification. In addition, the levels of boundary permeability of Australians and Singaporeans are compared

Emotional Anguish at Work: The Mediating Role of Perceived Rejection on Workgroup Mistreatment and Affective Outcomes

In this study, the authors pay particular attention to mistreatment directed toward an organizational member from fellow workgroup members. The study contributes to the growing body of literature that examines the mistreatment of employees in the workplace. The authors propose that mistreatment by the workgroup would contribute to feelings of rejection, over and above mistreatment by the supervisor. In addition, the authors tested the mediating role of perceived rejection between workgroup mistreatment and affective outcomes such as depression and organization-based self-esteem. Part-time working participants (N = 142) took part in the study, which required them to complete a questionnaire on workplace behaviors. Results indicated that workgroup mistreatment contributed additional variance to perceived rejection over and above supervisory mistreatment when predicting depression and organization-based self-esteem. The results also indicated that perceived rejection mediates the relationship between mistreatment and affective outcomes. Results are discussed and implications for research and practice are considered