Sins of the Parents: Self-control as a Buffer between Supervisors' Previous Experience of Family Undermining and Subordinates' Perceptions of Abusive Supervision

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2012

Publication Source

Leadership Quarterly

Abstract

Drawing upon social learning theory, the intergenerational transmission of violence hypothesis, and research on self-control, we develop a model of the relationships among previous experiences of family undermining, self-control, and abusive supervision. We tested the model with data obtained from supervisor-employee matched pairs in Study 1 and matched triads in Study 2. Results revealed that: 1) supervisors who experienced higher levels of family undermining (whether reported by the immediate supervisor or a sibling) during childhood are more likely to engage in abusive supervisory behaviors as adults; and 2) this relationship is moderated such that it is stronger for supervisors with low self-control. Overall, our results highlight the role of self-control in mitigating the impact of supervisors' previous experiences of family undermining on subordinate perceptions of abusive supervision, even after controlling for previously established antecedents.

Inclusive pages

869-882

ISBN/ISSN

1048-9843

Comments

This article originally appeared in The Leadership Quarterly. For the final published form please visit http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984312000458.

Publisher

Elsevier

Volume

23

Issue

5

Peer Reviewed

yes

Keywords

Abusive supervision, Destructive leadership, Family undermining, Self-control, Workplace bullying

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