How does abusive supervision affect employee innovation performance: Based on the perspective of cognitive-affective integration

Abstract

Background Improving employee innovation performance is an important way to enhance organizational competitiveness. Existing research has mainly focused on how positive leadership behaviors affect employee innovation performance, with relatively little discussion on the relationship between abusive supervision and employee innovation performance. This study is based on the cognitive-affective personality system theory and examines the mediating role of employee core self-evaluation and affective commitment, as well as the moderating role of deep acting on the relationship between abusive supervision and employee innovation performance. Methods We collected data from 363 employees in 61 teams from Central China. We conducted descriptive statistics, correlation, and Harman's single-factor analyses followed by the confirmatory factor analysis and constructed a multilevel structural equation model to test the research hypotheses. We performed the Monte Carlo simulations to further verify the hypotheses. Results Abusive supervision has a negative relationship with employee innovation performance. Core self-evaluation and affective commitment both mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and employee innovation performance. Deep acting plays a moderating role in the relationship between abusive supervision and core self-evaluation. Conclusion The findings contribute to the research on the relationship between abusive supervision and employee innovation performance and have practical managerial implications for organizations seeking to boost innovation performance.