The effects of leaders’ abusive supervision on employees’ work engagement: a moderated-mediation model of employees’ silence and employees’ proactive personalities

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of leaders’ abusive supervision on employees’ work engagement in the health sector. The study further examined the interactive effect of leaders’ abusive supervision and employees’ proactive personality on work engagement via employees’ silence. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 343 health workers in five hospitals in Ghana. The Hayes Process Macro and AMOS were used to analyse mediation, moderation and moderated-mediation relationships Findings The study findings indicate that leaders’ abusive supervision has a detrimental impact on employees’ work engagement. The study further found that employees’ silence did not mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and work engagement. Employees’ proactive personalities positively moderated the relationship between abusive supervision and employees’ silence. Originality/value This study advances understanding of how perceived leaders’ abusive supervision affects health workers’ work engagement. This study contributes to the literature by confirming employees’ silence as a pathway linking abusive supervision to work engagement. The study further identifies employees’ proactive personality as a moderating variable in the relationship between abusive supervision and employees’ silence.

Abusive Supervision and Its Relationship With Nursing Workforce and Patient Safety Outcomes: A Systematic Review

“…43 In other words, nurses who experienced abusive supervision were more likely to have lower job satisfaction, which, in turn, increased their intention to leave their job and negatively affected their motivation to serve the public. However, job satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and work engagement, as indicated by Osei et al 38 Although abusive supervision may negatively impact work engagement among nurses, job satisfaction may not be the mechanism through which this relationship operates. Sharif Nia et al 29 found that job satisfaction acted as a pathway between abusive supervision and nursing care quality, suggesting that nurses who experienced abusive supervision may have lower job satisfaction, which subsequently affected the quality of care they provided.…”

“…Nurses who experienced abusive leadership may also have encountered workplace mistreatment, such as incivility, ostracism, and bullying, which then contributed to their intention to leave the organization. However, Osei et al 38 found that silence behavior did not mediate the relationship between abusive supervision and work engagement. Although nurses may have chosen to remain silent in response to abusive supervision, it may not have directly affected their level of work engagement.…”

“…Job satisfaction Ng et al 43 Significantly decreased Pyc et al 40 Significantly decreased Rodwell et al 45 Significantly decreased Sharif Nia et al 29 Significantly decreased 3. Work engagement Sun et al 46 Significantly decreased Osei et al 38 Significantly decreased 4. Public service motivation Ng et al 43 No change Behavior or performance-based outcomes 5.…”

“…Four studies attributed increased job dissatisfaction to a higher perception of abusive supervision. 29,40,43,45 Other studies associated abusive supervision with decreased work engagement, 38,46 but not with public service motivation. 43 Behavior/performance-based outcomes.…”

Linking abusive supervision to service sabotage through work alienation in nurses: A cross‐sectional study

“…Abusive supervision, as a job stressor, can be considered a threat to these resources as it puts them at risk of depletion (Wang et al, 2022). The depletion of resources evokes a sense of estrangement from work, prompting employees to reduce their interaction in the workplace to prevent further depletion and preserve their remaining resources (Osei et al, 2022).…”