The Effect of Abusive Supervision on Employee Creativity: The Mediating Role of Negative Affect and Moderating Role of Interpersonal Harmony

Lili Chen; Zhixiao Ye; Zahid Shafait; Hongying Zhu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.796355

The Effect of Abusive Supervision on Employee Creativity: The Mediating Role of Negative Affect and Moderating Role of Interpersonal Harmony

Front Psychol. 2022 Mar 10:13:796355. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.796355. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Lili Chen¹, Zhixiao Ye¹, Zahid Shafait², Hongying Zhu³

Affiliations

¹ Property Management Department, School of Management and Institute of Modern Services, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, China.
² School of Management, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.
³ Institute of Modern Services, Zhejiang Shuren University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between abusive supervision and employee creativity by shedding light on the mediating role of negative affect and the moderating role of interpersonal harmony. Based on affective events theory, it was hypothesized that abusive supervision impacts employees' negative affect and their creativity. Data from a questionnaire survey of 398 Chinese employee-supervisor dyads were collected and analyzed. The results support our hypotheses, address unexplored theoretical predictions, and suggest that organizations should deal with the factors undermining employees' emotions to improve their creativity.

Keywords: China; abusive supervision; employee creativity; interpersonal harmony; negative emotions.