Will It Stick or Go Away? Examining How the Experience of Former Supervisor's Abuse Affects Newcomers' Adjustment

Abstract

Abstract Most research on abusive supervision has primarily focused on the consequences for victims within the same organization. However, some victims may choose to leave their job instead of staying and retaliating against the organization or their supervisor. This paper seeks to understand how employees' experience of abuse from former supervisors affects their adjustment in a new workplace. Specifically, we examine how such abuse affects victims' in‐role behaviours and job satisfaction in their new jobs. Building on the social–cognitive model of transference, we propose that the experience of former supervisors' abuse will lead to increased interaction avoidance with and decreased feedback seeking from current supervisors. We argue that these factors will in turn negatively influence victims' in‐role behaviours and job satisfaction in their new workplace. Results from one field study and two experiments largely support our hypotheses, indicating that the experience of former supervisors' abuse affects victims' in‐role behaviours and job satisfaction in their new environment through the mechanisms of interaction avoidance and feedback seeking. The paper discusses the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.