Abusive Supervision and Burnout: Investigating the Impact of Susceptibility and Exposure to a Stressor

ABSTRACT

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this study was to further our understanding of the relationship between abusive supervision and burnout by examining two variables that likely exacerbate this relationship. Susceptibility to stress (i.e. subordinate’s neuroticism) and exposure to a stressor (i.e. time spent with the abusive supervisor) were hypothesized to magnify the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout. Data collected from two samples confirmed the positive relationship between abusive supervision and burnout. However, this relationship appears to be unaffected by the employee’s neuroticism nor time spent with their supervisor. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Acknowledgement

This project is based on the master’s thesis of Jie Yu.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics approval

This research was deemed exempt by the IRBs of the University of Central Florida (Sample 1) and the University of Minnesota Duluth (Sample 2).

Data availability statement

The data is available upon request from the first author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Chancellor’s Faculty Small Grants Program. The sponsor played no role beyond financial support.

Notes on contributors

Mallory A. McCord

Mallory A. McCord is an assistant professor in the Psychology Department at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, USA. She received her PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Her research interests focus on workplace mistreatment and stressors.

Jie Yu

Jie Yu is a graduate of the Master of Arts in Psychological Science program at the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a focus on Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Her research interests include workplace stressors and health.