Kick the Cat: A Serial Crossover Effect of Supervisors' Ego Depletion on Subordinates' Deviant Behavior

Xiaodong Ming; Xinwen Bai; Lin Lin

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01314

Kick the Cat: A Serial Crossover Effect of Supervisors' Ego Depletion on Subordinates' Deviant Behavior

Front Psychol. 2020 Jun 11:11:1314. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01314. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Xiaodong Ming^{1

2}, Xinwen Bai¹, Lin Lin³

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ School of Business, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Drawing on the crossover model and conservation of resources theory, we explore the mechanism through which supervisors' ego depletion induces subordinates' deviant behavior. Using the two-wave survey data from 24 supervisors and their 192 respective subordinates, we found supports for our hypotheses that (a) abusive supervision mediated the effect of supervisors' ego depletion on subordinates' ego depletion; (b) subordinates' ego depletion mediated the effect of abusive supervision on subordinates' deviant behavior; and (c) abusive supervision and subordinates' ego depletion serially mediated the effect of supervisors' ego depletion on subordinates' deviant behavior. Our serial crossover model posits that both ego depletion and unethical behavior can be transmitted from supervisors to subordinates, and that these two crossover processes are entwined with each other. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical contributions and practical implications.

Keywords: abusive supervision; conservation of resources; crossover; ego depletion; unethical behavior.