| Author: | Tung, Wai Kit Edward |
| Title: | Empathy or forgiveness? Why some subordinates endure abusive supervision? |
| Advisors: | Lam, Wing (MM) |
| Degree: | D.B.A. |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations Supervision of employees Organizational behavior Employees -- Attitudes |
| Department: | Faculty of Business |
| Pages: | 108 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | In workplaces, it is not uncommon to see abused subordinates endure their supervisors' acts. A number of variables may explain the phenomenon. In this study, we argue that subordinates' empathy and forgiveness are two important ones as evidence supports that empathetic individuals have a higher tendency to attribute offences to external factors while forgiveness, which can be perceived as a stress coping strategy, facilitates the release of negative emotion induced by abusive supervision. In both cases, the influences of abusive supervision could be mitigated. Based on the revised abusive supervision model of Martinko et al. (2013) and the transactional theory of Lazarus & Folkman (1984), the present study maps the subordinates' responses to abusive supervision into the stress appraisal and coping model. With it as the overarching model, this study examines (1) the linkage between abusive supervision to subordinate's somatic anxiety; (2) the relation of subordinate's empathy and forgiveness to the abusive supervisor; (3) whether and why subordinate's empathy and forgiveness would reduce somatic anxiety incurred; and (4) the somatic anxiety in relation to the subordinate's turnover intention. In order to obtain a more detailed measurement, the present study utilized Experience Sampling method (ESM) to collect the data 3 times a day and over a period of 10 working days to capture subordinates' daily thoughts and feelings towards the abusive supervision. The results supported that empathy (morning) is a subordinate level moderator to the abusive supervision (afternoon) but is not able to support forgiveness (morning), is an emotion-focused coping method that moderates the negative effects of abusive supervision (afternoon). It is partially supported that somatic anxiety (evening) mediates the interactive effect of abusive supervision (afternoon) and empathy (morning) on turnover intention (evening). The theoretical and practical implications, as well the directions for future research are discussed. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 991022052657403411.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.91 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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