This study examines whether abusive supervision serves as a moderator for the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Specifically, it investigates whether OCB and CWB have a more positive relationship in the presence of higher levels of abusive supervision compared to lower levels of abusive supervision.
We surveyed 174 employed adults using established measures of OCB, CWB, abusive supervision, as well as other exploratory variables. Regression analyses tested whether abusive supervision moderated the OCB–CWB relationship.
Results show that abusive supervision significantly moderates the OCB–CWB relationship, such that higher levels of abusive supervision are associated with a stronger positive correlation between OCB and CWB. The effect held for withdrawal, abuse and theft CWB.
The cross-sectional self-report design limits causal inference, and low base rates may affect the robustness of the findings. Future research should use longitudinal, multi-source designs to better capture the dynamics among OCB, CWB and abusive supervision.
Organizations should be aware that OCBs may co-occur with CWBs among employees reporting higher levels of abusive supervision.
This study contributes to the literature by identifying abusive supervision as a potential boundary condition under which OCB and CWB are more positively related.
