The 'Perfect' Storm? Investigating the Relationship between Subordinates' Perfectionism and Leaders' Abusive Supervision
Year: 2020
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Perfectionists experience relationship difficulties with friends, romantic partners, and family members. However, limited research has assessed whether these interpersonal issues carry over to the workplace. This study investigated whether subordinate perfectionism leads to an abusive relationship with one’s supervisor. Since subordinates’ assessments of their leaders’ abusive supervision can be influenced by their own perceptual biases, a survey/vignette design assessed how multidimensional perfectionism predicts both experiences and perceptions of abusive supervision. Findings from a sample of 500 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers indicated that self-oriented perfectionists were more likely to perceive abusive supervision but experienced less abuse from their leaders. Socially prescribed perfectionists experienced greater abuse from their leaders but were no more likely to perceive leaders’ behaviours as abusive. Other-oriented perfectionists were less likely to perceive abusive supervision but were no more likely to experience abuse. Implications for curbing abusive supervision and future research on perfectionism in the workplace are discussed.
Author: Emma Vreeker-Williamson
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3091004040