Standing by your organization: The impact of organizational identification and abusive supervision on followers' perceived cohesion and tendency to gossip

S Decoster, J Camps, J Stouten, L Vandevyvere…�- Journal of business�…, 2013 - Springer
S Decoster, J Camps, J Stouten, L Vandevyvere, TM Tripp
Journal of business Ethics, 2013Springer
Abusive supervision has been shown to have significant negative consequences for
employees' well-being, attitudes, and behavior. However, despite the devastating impact, it
might well be that employees do not always react negatively toward a leader's abusive
behavior. In the present study, we show that employees' organizational identification and
abusive supervision interact for employees' perceived cohesion with their work group and
their tendency to gossip about their leader. Employees confronted with a highly abusive�…
Abstract
Abusive supervision has been shown to have significant negative consequences for employees’ well-being, attitudes, and behavior. However, despite the devastating impact, it might well be that employees do not always react negatively toward a leader’s abusive behavior. In the present study, we show that employees’ organizational identification and abusive supervision interact for employees’ perceived cohesion with their work group and their tendency to gossip about their leader. Employees confronted with a highly abusive supervisor had a stronger perceived cohesion and engaged in less gossiping behavior when they identified more strongly with their organization. Our findings illustrate that organizational identification functions as a buffer for those confronted with an abusive supervisor.
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