Trickling out effects of abusive supervision: A social information processing perspective.

Can an employee rationalize their supervisory abuse to the point where sabotaging customers seems justified? Drawing from the social information processing theory perspective, we introduce three distinct types of supervisor–supervisee dyadic cognitive influences (i.e. attention-shifting, role-sendin...

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Publicado en:Human Relations Vol. 79; no. 1; pp. 59 - 95
Autores principales: Tariq, Hussain, Khan, Abdul Karim, Hochwarter, Wayne A, Muchiri, Michael, Babalola, Mayowa T
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Jan2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jan2026
      vid: 79
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      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
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        atl: Trickling out effects of abusive supervision: A social information processing perspective.
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        au:
          Tariq, Hussain
          Khan, Abdul Karim
          Hochwarter, Wayne A
          Muchiri, Michael
          Babalola, Mayowa T
        affil:
          La Trobe University, Australia
          United Arab Emirates University, UAE
          Florida State University, USA
          Alfaisal University, Saudi Arabia
          University of Western Australia, Australia
      su:
        Saudi Arabia
        Employee psychology
        Supervision of employees
        Social psychology
        Work environment
        Empirical research
        Group dynamics
        Violence in the workplace
        Attention
        Bullying
        Role models
        Employee attitudes
        Research funding
        T-test (Statistics)
        Scientific observation
        Customer relations
        Descriptive statistics
        Factor analysis
        Confidence intervals
      sug:
        subj:
          Employee psychology
          Supervision of employees
          Social psychology
          Work environment
          Empirical research
          Group dynamics
          Violence in the workplace
          Attention
          Bullying
          Role models
          Employee attitudes
          Saudi Arabia
          Research funding
          T-test (Statistics)
          Scientific observation
          Customer relations
          Descriptive statistics
          Factor analysis
          Confidence intervals
      keyword:
        abusive supervision
        perceived acceptability of norm violations
        physical proximity
        psychological proximity
        role ambiguity
        role-modeling influence
        social information processing account
        abusive supervision
        perceived acceptability of norm violations
        physical proximity
        psychological proximity
        role ambiguity
        role-modeling influence
        social information processing account
      ab: Can an employee rationalize their supervisory abuse to the point where sabotaging customers seems justified? Drawing from the social information processing theory perspective, we introduce three distinct types of supervisor–supervisee dyadic cognitive influences (i.e. attention-shifting, role-sending, and role-modeling mechanisms) to explain the trickle-out effects of abusive supervision on customers. We hypothesized that an abused employee's perception of acceptability of norm violations, role ambiguity, and role-modeling influence mediates the effects of abusive supervision on customer-directed sabotage. Furthermore, we developed a process-moderated mediation model to explain how different levels of psychological and physical proximity shape these effects. Across two studies in distinct face-to-face service contexts, we found that the perceived acceptability of norm violations (Study 2), role ambiguity (Study 1 and Study 2), and role-modeling influence (Study 1 and Study 2) trickle out the effects of abusive supervision on customers. Interestingly, these trickle-out effects via role ambiguity and role-modeling influence are intensified when employees are psychologically close to their supervisor but physically distant from customers, but under these moderation mediation conditions, the trickle-out effect via perceived acceptability of norm violations has been weakened. Our findings offer new insights into how abusive behaviors ripple through service organizations, affecting not just internal dynamics but external customer relations as well.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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