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Using indirect survey techniques to investigate the relationship between employee personal experience of abusive supervision and job performance

Leonidas A. Zampetakis (Department of Psychology, University of Crete, Gallos Campus, Rethymno, Greece)

International Journal of Manpower

ISSN: 0143-7720

Article publication date: 12 April 2024

Issue publication date: 29 August 2024

185

Abstract

Purpose

To propose the use of indirect survey protocols, in general and the item count technique (ICT), in particular, that ensure participant anonymity in organizations to explore the effect of employee perceived abusive supervision on job performance.

Design/methodology/approach

We apply ICT to a sample of 363 employees (52.6% female) from Greek organizations. Utilizing multivariate statistical techniques, we investigated how employees assess the impact of their personal encounters with abusive supervision on job performance. This approach allowed us to explore the percentage of employees perceiving negative effects on job performance, distinguishing our study from previous studies that primarily focus on quantifying the extent or magnitude of abusive supervision in organizational settings. Also, we investigated how employee socio-demographic characteristics, human capital characteristics and affective traits relate to the evaluation of experienced abusive supervision as a negative factor for their job performance.

Findings

We found that approximately 62% of the respondents evaluated personal experience of abusive supervision as negatively affecting their job performance. We also found that the likelihood of employees evaluating personal experience of abusive supervision as having a negative impact on their job performance is: (1) higher for female employees, (2) does not depend on employee age, job tenure and education; (3) is lower for employees with managerial roles and (4) increases with employee trait negative affectivity.

Originality/value

The study is a response to the call for researchers to use innovative methods for advancing abusive supervision research. The study highlights the significance of taking a proactive stance towards addressing abusive supervision in the workplace, by using indirect survey methods that ensures employee anonymity. The results have implications for organizational strategies aimed at increasing awareness of abusive supervision and its impact on employee performance.

Keywords

Citation

Zampetakis, L.A. (2024), "Using indirect survey techniques to investigate the relationship between employee personal experience of abusive supervision and job performance", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 45 No. 7, pp. 1309-1325. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-10-2023-0595

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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