| In this study, I draw on research on goal setting, stress, and aggression to examine contextual antecedents of abusive supervision. I suggest that a characteristic of the supervisors' goals (viz., goal difficulty) can contribute to abusive supervisory behaviors through the effect it has on the supervisors' level of hindrance stress. I also propose that this mediating process is moderated by two characteristics of the supervisors' rewards (viz., goal-contingent reward and reward interdependence). Thus, I suggest a moderated mediation model predicting supervisors' hindrance stress acts as a mediator of the relationship between supervisors' difficult goals and abusive supervision. Moreover, I also posit that the mediation is stronger when the supervisors' rewards are contingent on goal attainment and their subordinates' performance. With a sample of 257 supervisor-subordinate dyads, I find that supervisors' hindrance stress partially mediates the relationship between supervisors' difficult goals and abusive supervision. However, the results revealed that this mediating effect is not moderated by the characteristics of the supervisors' rewards that were examined. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are identified and future research is discussed. |
