The deleterious health and behavioral consequences of reporting to an abusive supervisor have been documented in past research. Furthermore, recent corporate scandals have led to increased pressure to hold employees accountable for their behaviors and decisions at work. This study examines the interactive effects of abusive supervision on experienced relationships between accountability and work outcomes (job tension, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion), with a sample of 366 employees across a myriad of contexts and conditions for answerability. Specifically, it was hypothesized that high levels of perceived abuse would interact with accountability such that job satisfaction declines and tension and exhaustion escalate because of the control-depleting properties of abuse. Study results were supportive of these proposed relationships. Key contributions and limitations of the study, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.
Aquino, K., Lewis, M., & Bradfield, M. (1999). Justice constructs, negative affectivity, and employee deviance: A proposed model and empirical test. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 1073-1091.
2.
Arthur, M.B., Khapova, S.N., & Wilderom, C.P.M. (2005). Career success in a boundaryless career world. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 177-202.
3.
Arthur, M.B., & Rousseau, D.M. (1996). The boundaryless career as a new employment principle. In M. B. Arthur & D. M. Rousseau (Eds.), The boundaryless career (pp. 3-20). New York: Oxford University Press.
4.
Aryee, S., Chen, Z., Sun, L., & Debrah, Y.A. (2007). Antecedents and outcomes of abusive supervision: Test of a trickle-down model. Journal of Applied Psychology , 92, 191-201.
5.
Ashforth, B. (1994). Petty tyranny in organizations. Human Relations, 47, 755-778.
6.
Astley, W., & Sachdeva, P. (1984). Structural sources of intraorganizational power: A theoretical synthesis. Academy of Management Review, 9, 104-113.
7.
Bamberger, P.A., & Bacharach, S.B. (2006). Abusive supervision and subordinate problem drinking: Taking resistance, stress, and subordinate personality into account. Human Relations, 59, 1-30.
8.
Bies, R. (2001). Interactional (in)justice: The sacred and the profane. In J. Greenberg & R. Cropanzano (Eds.), Advances in organizational behavior (pp. 89-118). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
9.
Bies, R., & Moag, J. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness. In R. Lewicki, B. Sheppard, & M. Bazerman (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations (pp. 43-53). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
10.
Brayfield, A., & Rothe, H. (1951). An index of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 35, 307-311.
11.
Brief, A.P. (1998). Attitudes in and around organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
12.
Brown, S., & Peterson, R. (1993). Antecedents and consequences of salesperson job satisfaction: Meta-analysis and assessment of causal effects. Journal of Marketing Research, 30, 63-77.
13.
Burger, J. (1989). Negative reactions to increases in perceived personal control. Journal of Personal and Social Psychology, 56, 246-256.
14.
Burmeister, W. (2004). Living in Dilbert's world: A cubicle eye's view of job dissatisfaction. Journal of American Academy of Business , 5(1/2), 350-352.
15.
Burton, J., & Hoobler, J. (2006). Subordinate self-esteem and abusive supervision . Journal of Managerial Issues, 18(3), 340-355.
16.
Champoux, J., & Peters, W. (1987). Form, effect size, and power in moderated regression analysis. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 60, 243-255.
17.
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavior sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
18.
Colquitt, J.A., Conlon, D.E., Wesson, M.J., Porter, C.O.L.H., & Ng, K.Y. (2001). Justice at the millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 425-445.
19.
Cook, T.D., & Campbell, D.T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis issues for field settings. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
20.
Cordes, C.L., & Dougherty, T.W. (1993). A review and an integration of research on job burnout. Academy of Management Review, 18, 621-656.
21.
Cortina, J. (1993). Interaction, nonlinearity, and multicollinearity: Implications for multiple regression. Journal of Management , 19, 915-922.
22.
Cropanzano, R., Rupp, D.E., & Byrne, Z.S. (2003). The relationship of emotional exhaustion to work attitudes, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 160-169.
23.
Crozier, M. (1964). The bureaucratic phenomenon. Chicago: University Press.
24.
Danna, K., & Griffin, R.W. (1999). Health and well being in the workplace: A review and synthesis of the literature. Journal of Management, 25, 357-384.
25.
Dasborough, M., & Ashkanasy, N. (2003) Leadership and affective events: How uplifts can ameliorate employee hassles. In C. Cherrey & L. Matusak (Eds.), Building leadership bridges (pp. 58-72). College Park, MD: MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership.
26.
Davis, W., Mero, N., & Goodman, J.M. (2007). The interactive effects of goal orientation and accountability on performance. Human Performance, 20, 1-21.
27.
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W.B. (2000). A model of burnout and life satisfaction among nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing , 32, 454-464.
28.
Drabek, T.E., & Haas, J.E. (1969). Laboratory simulation of organizational stress . American Sociological Review, 39, 222-236.
29.
Duffy, M.K., Ganster, D., & Pagon, M. (2002). Social undermining in the workplace. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 331-351.
30.
Eby, L., Lockwood, A., & Butts, M. (2006). Perceived support for mentoring: A multiple perspectives approach. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 267-291.
31.
Enzele, M.E., & Anderson, S.C. (1993). Surveillant intentions and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 257-266.
32.
Fandt, P.M. (1991). The relationship of accountability and interdependent behavior to enhancing team consequences. Group and Organization Studies, 16, 300-312.
33.
Frink, D., Hall, A., Perryman, A., Ranft, A., Hochwarter, W., Ferris, G., et al. (in press). A meso-level theory of accountability in organizations . In J. Martocchio (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management. New York: Elsevier.
34.
Frink, D.D., & Ferris, G.R. (1999). The moderating effects of accountability on the conscientiousness-performance relationship. Journal of Business and Psychology, 13, 515-524.
35.
Frink, D.D., & Klimoski, R.J. (1998). Toward a theory of accountability in organizations and human resource management. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
36.
Frink, D.D., & Klimoski, R.J. (2004). Advancing accountability theory and practice: Introduction to the special edition. Human Resource Management Review, 14, 1-17.
37.
Gouldner, A.W. (1954). Patterns of industrial bureaucracy. New York: Basic Books.
38.
Grandey, A.A., Kern, J., & Frone, M. (2007). Verbal abuse from outsiders versus insiders: Comparing frequency, impact on emotional exhaustion, and the role of emotional labor . Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 63-79.
39.
Greenberger, D.B., & Strasser, S. (1986). Development and application of a model of personal control in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 11, 164-177.
40.
Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R., & Black, W. (1998). Multivariate data analysis (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
41.
Hall, A.T., Blass, F.R., Ferris, G.R., & Massengale, R. (2004). Leader reputation and accountability: Implications for dysfunctional leader behavior. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 515-536.
42.
Hall, A.T., Frink, D.D., Ferris, G.R., & Hochwarter, W.A. , Kacmar, C.J., & Bowen, M.G. (2003). Accountability in human resources management. In C. A. Schriesheim & L. Neider (Eds.), New directions in human resource management (pp. 29-63). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
43.
Hall, D.T. (1996). The career is dead: Long live the career. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
44.
Hall, D.T. (2004). The protean career: A quarter-century journey . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65, 1-13.
45.
Harvey, M., Heames, J., Richey, R., & Leonard, N. (2006). Bullying: From the playground to the boardroom . Leadership and Organizational Studies, 12, 1-12.
46.
Harvey, P., Stoner, J., Hochwarter, W., & Kacmar, C. (2007). Dealing with bad bosses: The neutralizing effects of self-presentation and positive affect on the negative consequences of abusive supervision. Leadership Quarterly, 18, 264-280.
47.
Heslin, P.A. (2005). Conceptualizing and evaluating career success . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 113-136.
48.
Heslin, P.A. (in press). Better than brainstorming? Contextual boundary conditions to brainwriting for idea generation in organizations. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.
49.
Hochwarter, W., Ferris, G., Gavin, M., Perrewé, P., Hall, A., & Frink, D. (2007). Political skill as a neutralizer of felt accountability-job tension effects on job performance ratings: A longitudinal investigation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102, 226-239.
50.
Hochwarter, W., Kacmar, C., Perrewé, P., & Johnson, D. (2003). Perceived organizational support as a mediator of the relationship between politics perceptions and work outcomes. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 438-465.
51.
Hochwarter, W., Perrewé, P., Hall, A., & Ferris, G. (2005). Negative affectivity as a moderator of the form and magnitude of the relationship between felt accountability and job tension . Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 517-535.
52.
Horvath, M., & Andrews, S. (2007). The role of fairness perceptions and accountability attributions in predicting reactions to organizational events. Journal of Psychology, 141, 202-233.
53.
House, R., & Rizzo, J. (1972). Role conflict and ambiguity as critical variables in a model of organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 7, 467-505.
54.
Iaffaldano, M.T., & Muchinsky, P.M. (1985). Job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 97, 251-273.
55.
Karasek, R.A. (1979). Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: Implications for job redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24, 285-308.
56.
Klimoski, R.J., & Ash, R. (1974). Accountability and negotiatory behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 11, 409-419.
57.
Kohli, A.K. (1985). Some unexplored supervisory behaviors and their influence on salespeople's role clarity, specific self-esteem, job satisfaction, and motivation. Journal of Marketing Research, 22, 424-433.
58.
Lerner, J.S., & Tetlock, P.E. (1999). Accounting for the effects of accountability. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 255-275.
59.
Luthans, F., Luthans, K.W., & Luthans, B.C. (2004). Positive psychological capital: Human and social capital. Business Horizons, 47, 45-50.
60.
Lyubomirsky, S., King, L.A., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131, 803-855.
61.
Markman, K., & Tetlock, P. (2000). "I couldn't have known": Accountability, foreseeability and counterfactual denial responsibility. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39, 313-325.
62.
Martinko, M.J., & Gardner, W.L. (1982). Learned helplessness: An alternative explanation for performance deficits. Academy of Management Review, 7, 195-204.
63.
Maslach, C., & Jackson, S.E. (1981). The measurement of experienced burnout. Journal of Occupational Behaviour, 2, 99-113.
64.
Masterson, S.S., Lewis, K., Goldman, B.M., & Taylor, M.S. (2000). Integrating justice and social exchange: The differing effects of fair procedures and treatment of work relationships. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 738-748.
65.
Mauno, S., Kinnunen, U., & Ruokolainen, M. (2007). Job demands and resources as antecedents of work engagement: A longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 149-171.
66.
May, R. (1998). Power and innocence: A search for the sources of violence. New York: Norton.
67.
Mero, N.M., Guidice, R.M., & Brownlee, A.L. (2007). Accountability in a performance appraisal context: The effect of audience and form of accounting on rater response and behavior. Journal of Management, 33, 223-252.
68.
Mitchell, T.R., Hopper, H., Daniels, D., Falvy, J.G., & Ferris, G.R. (1998). Power, accountability, and inappropriate actions . Applied Psychology: An International Review, 47, 497-517.
69.
Mook, D.G. (1983). In defense of external invalidity. American Psychologist, 38, 379-387.
70.
O'Driscoll, M.P., & Beehr, T.A. (2000). Moderating effects of perceived control and need for clarity on the relationship between role stressors and employee affective reactions. Journal of Social Psychology, 140, 151-159.
71.
Orbuch, T.L. (1997). People's accounts count: The sociology of accounts . Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 455-478.
72.
Pinter, B., Insko, C., Wildschut, T., Kirchner, J., Montoya, C., & Wolf, S. (2007). Reduction of interindividual-intergroup discontinuity: The role of leader accountability and proneness to guilt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 250-265.
73.
Podsakoff, P., MacKenzie, S., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879-903.
74.
Richman, J.A., Flaherty, J.A., Rospenda, K.M., & Christensen, M.L. (1992). Mental health consequences and correlates of reported medical student abuse. Journal of the American Medical Association, 267, 692-694.
75.
Rousseau, D. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
76.
Royle, M., Hall, A., Hochwarter, W., Perrewé, P., & Ferris, G. (2005). The interactive effects of accountability and job self-efficacy on organizational citizenship and political behavior. Organizational Analysis, 13, 53-72.
77.
Rutkowski, K.A., & Steelman, L.A. (2005). Testing a path model for antecedents of accountability. Journal of Managerial Development , 24, 473-486.
78.
Schat, A.C.H., Desmarais, S., & Kelloway, E.K. (2006). Exposure to workplace aggression from multiple sources: Validation of a measure and test of a model. Unpublished manuscript, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
79.
Schaubroeck, K., Walumba, F., Ganster, D., & Kepes, S. (2007). Destructive leader traits and the neutralizing influence of an "enriched" job. Leadership Quarterly, 18, 236-251.
80.
Scholten, L., van Knippenberg, D., Nijstad, B., & De Drue, C. (2007). Motivated information processing and group decision-making: Effects of process accountability on information processing and decision quality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 539-552.
81.
Schul, P.L., Remington, S., & Berl, R.L. (1990). Assessing gender differences in relationships between supervisory behaviors and job-related outcomes in the industrial sales force. Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 10, 1-16.
82.
Scott, M., & Lyman, M. (1968). Accounts. American Sociological Review, 33, 46-62.
83.
Siegel-Jacobs, K., & Yates, J.F. (1996). Effects of procedural and outcome accountability on judgment quality. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 65, 1-17.
84.
Skinner, E.A. (1996). A guide to constructs of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 549-570.
85.
Spector, P.E., Chen, P.Y., & O'Connell, B.J. (2000). A longitudinal study of relations between job stressors and job strains while controlling for prior negative affectivity and strains. Journal of Applied Psychology , 85, 211-218.
86.
Spector, P., Fox, S., Penney, L., Bruusema, K., Goh, A., & Keesler, S. (2005). The dimensionality of counterproductivity: Are all counterproductive behaviors created equal? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 446-460.
87.
Stone, E.F., & Hollenbeck, J.R. (1989). Clarifying some controversial issues surrounding statistical procedures for detecting moderator variables: Empirical evidence and related evidence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 3-10.
88.
Tepper, B. (2007). Abusive supervision in formal organizations: Review, synthesis and research agenda. Journal of Management, 33, 261-289.
89.
Tepper, B.J. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 178-190.
Tepper, B.J., Duffy, M.K., Hoobler, J.M., & Ensley, M.D. (2004). Moderators of the relationship between coworkers' organizational citizenship behavior and fellow employees' attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 455-465.
92.
Tepper, B.J., Duffy, M.K., & Shaw, J.D. (2001). Personality moderators of the relationship between abusive supervision and subordinates' resistance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 974-983.
93.
Tetlock, P. (1985). Accountability: The neglected social context of judgment and choice. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
94.
Thoms, P., Dose, J., & Scott, K. (2002). Relationships between accountability, job satisfaction, and trust. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 13, 307-323.
95.
Van Hiel, A., & Schittekatte, M. (1998). Information exchange in context: Effects of gender composition of group, accountability, and intergroup perception on group decision making. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28, 2049-2067.
96.
Vredenburgh, D., & Brender, Y. (1998). The hierarchical abuse of power in work organizations . Journal of Business Ethics, 17, 1337-1347.
97.
Watson, D., Clark, L.A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1063-1070.
98.
Watson, D., & Pennebaker, J. (1989). Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychological Review, 96, 234-254.
Weick, K. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
101.
Wood, J., & Winston, B. (2005). Toward a new understanding of leader accountability: Defining a critical construct. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 11, 84-95.
102.
Zellars, K., Tepper B., & Duffy M. (2002). Abusive supervision and subordinates' organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 1068-1076.
