How to Deal with Abusive Supervisors Research Paper

How to Deal with Abusive Supervisors - Research Paper Example An image of the tyrannical boss is evoked whenever the notion of abusive supervisors is discussed. This boss usually undermines those working under him or reporting to him and publicly ridicules his workers. In most of the studies, abusive supervision means the perception of workers about their supervisor of the extent to which they engage in nonverbal behaviors, verbal abuse and sustained display of hostile actions excluding any physical contact. The extent of abusive supervision is mostly dependent upon the perception of the subordinates. Different subordinates working under the same boss might feel differently about his behavior, some might perceive it as abusive and some might not. The behavior might also be labeled as abusive in different contexts by different workers (Tepper, Consequences of abusive supervision 2000). This behavior can result in the employee enduring the abuse or terminating the relationship or try to modify his supervisor’s behavior. The person being abused may remain in the relationship because he might feel powerless to take any corrective action, or he is dependent financially on the abuser or fears the results of terminating the relationship than the results of abuse. The abusive behavior may also be endured because the supervisor interchanges abusive behavior with normal behavior. Bies have identified manifestations of abusive supervision as loud and angry shouting, public criticism, rudeness, and inconsiderate actions. Not many studies have investigated the effects of abusive supervision on the behavior of employees and the performance of the company. Ashforth found out that abusive supervision resulted in helplessness, frustration, and alienation from work. It was also found by Keashly and his fellows that physical violence like punching, throwing things and threatening with a weapon occurred very rarely in comparison to nonphysical abuse.