Abusive supervision and employee silence: The moderating effects of leader status and employees’ trait anger

Abstract

We explored the relationship between the abusive supervision of leaders and employee silence in the face-oriented culture of East Asia by using conservation of resources theory. Survey data were collected using a multiperiod, multisource method conducted with 350 employees and their supervisors. Results were as follows: (a) The relationship between abusive supervision and employee silence was mediated by the perceived face threat of employees, (b) leader status positively moderated the relationship between abusive supervision and employees’ perceived face threat, and (c) trait anger of employees positively moderated the relationship between perceived face threat and silence. Therefore, if leaders use abusive supervision to manage their subordinates, they need to consider their own status and the individual characteristics of their subordinates, and a higher leadership status can ease the discomfort of subordinates who are abused. However, abusive supervision is not suitable for improving the performance of subordinates with trait anger because it will further strengthen their silence.