The interactive effects of abusive supervision and entitlement on emotional exhaustion and co-worker abuse

In this study, we examine the relationship between employee perceptions of supervisor abuse, emotional exhaustion, psychological entitlement, and subsequent co-worker abuse. We hypothesize that higher levels of employee psychological entitlement moderate the abusive supervisor - emotional exhaustion relationship - and this interaction mediates the abusive supervision - co-worker abuse relationship. Using multilevel-moderated mediation analysis to analyse day-level survey data from a lagged panel design across five working days from 132 working adults and their co-workers across multiple industries, we found support for our hypothesized model. We discuss implications for theory, future research, and management practice that result from our study.