Abusive Supervision and Employee Outcomes

Abusive supervision is the subordinate’s perception of the extent to which supervisors engage in the sustained display of hostile, verbal and non-verbal behaviour, excluding physical contact. This study examines the relationship between abusive supervision and its negative outcomes on employees within an organization. These negative outcomes include, emotional exhaustion, job tension and turn over intention. Conservation of resource theory was used in the study. In a style of a quantitative research, data were collected through convenient sampling technique from two tertiary institutions within Bauchi State. Out of the 480 questionnaires distributed, only 418 were returned. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Smart PLS. The research findings show that a positive and significant relationship exist between abusive supervision and its negative outcomes. It was concluded that, the more the abusive supervision the more the negative outcomes by employees. The study recommends that future research be geared towards family problems, financial problems and social problems in relation to the negative employee outcomes. The study, also recommends the use of a moderator such as self-promotion, exemplification and a mediator such as organizational culture to determine their adverse effect on abusive supervision.