Implicit and explicit aggression among restaurant employees: The moderating effect of perceived support

ABSTRACT

The present study examined how restaurant employees’ perceptions of supervisory and organizational support moderate the influence of implicit aggression on the explicit behavioral outcomes of anger and aggression. The moderated process revealed that perceived supervisory support was critical in mitigating the adverse effect of implicit aggression on explicit anger reactions among restaurant workers. Among employees reporting low levels of PSS, the relationship between implicit aggression and explicit anger reactions at work was significant. Among employees reporting moderate to high levels of PSS, there was no association. Notably, the results also demonstrated that employees’ perceived organizational support did not interact with implicit aggression to influence explicit aggressive behaviors in the foodservice workplace. Thus, the findings of this study demonstrate the importance of perceptions of support from direct supervisors above and beyond that of the organization when attempting to mitigate explicit aggressive displays and anger in the workplace.

KEYWORDS:

• Aggression
• perceived support
• conditional reasoning
• I³ theory

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Notice of duplicate publication: Implicit and explicit workplace aggression: The moderating effect of perceived support