The subject of abusive supervision is pervasive in most of the public sectors of South Africa. Drawing on the existing and limited body of research knowledge about abusive supervision and organizational citizen behavior, the current qualitative study critically assessed how employees protrude themselves in the organization after being victims of abusive supervision. This study observed the impact of abusive supervision on subordinates’ citizenship behavior in South African public organizations. The study sought to establish how public servants’ employees would respond in an event whereby they are antagonized by abusive supervision in an organization. The researcher examines how abusive supervision affects the citizenship behavior of the employees. Findings demonstrated that South African public servants react irrationally in the event of abusive supervision. A focus group interview with Seven groups of municipal employees was conducted using open-ended questions. Afterwards, there were one-on-one interviews with the seniors working in the public servant sectors.
Ashforth, B. (1994). Petty Tyranny in Organizations. Human Relations, 47 , 755-778. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872679404700701
Bennett, R. J., & Robinson, S. L. (2005). Development of a Measure of Workplace Deviance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 349-360. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.3.349
Bies, R. J., & Tripp, T. M. (2005). The Study of Revenge in the Workplace: Conceptual, Ideological, and Empirical Issues. In S. Fox, & P. E. Spector (Eds.), Counterproductive Work Behavior: Investigations of Actors and Targets (pp. 65-81). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10893-003
Bolino, M. C., Hsiung, H., Harvey, J., & LePine, J. A. (2015). “Well, I’m Tired of Tryin!” Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Citizenship Fatigue. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 56-74. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037583
Borman, W. C., Penner, L. A., Allen, T. D., & Motowidlo, S. J. (2001). Personality Predictors of Citizenship Performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 9, 52-69. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2389.00163
Brady, D. L., Brown, D. J., & Liang, L. H. (2017). Moving beyond Assumptions of Deviance: The Reconceptualization and Measurement of Workplace Gossip. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000164
Brees, J., Mackey, J., Martinko, M., & Harvey, P. (2014). The Mediating Role of Perceptions of Abusive Supervision in the Relationship between Personality and Aggression. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 21, 403-413. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051813505859
Chiniara, M., & Bentein, K. (2016). Linking Servant Leadership to Individual Performance: Differentiating the Mediating Role of Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness Need Satisfaction. The Leadership Quarterly, 27, 124-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.08.004
Creswell, J., & Plano Clark, V. (2007). Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research . Sage Publication Inc.
De Beer, L. T., Schaufeli, W. B., & De Witte, H. (2022). The Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23) in South Africa. BMC Public Health, 22 , Article 1555. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13978-0 https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12889-022-13978-0.pdf
Grobler, P., Warnich, S., Carrell, M., Elbert, N., & Hatfield, R. (2006). Human Resource Management in South Africa . Thomson, Pat Bond.
Haggard, D. L., & Park, H. M. (2018). Perceived Supervisor Remorse, Abusive Supervision, and LMX. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39, 1252-1267. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2285
Homans, G. C. (1958). Social Behavior as Exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 63 , 597-606. https://doi.org/10.1086/222355
Jenkins, S., & Delbridge, R. (2013). Context Matters: Examining “Soft” and “Hard” Approaches to Employee Engagement in Two Workplaces. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24, 2670-2691. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2013.770780
Kim, K. Y., Atwater, L., Latheef, Z., & Zheng, D. (2018). Three Motives for Abusive Supervision: The Mitigating Effect of Subordinates Attributed Motives on Abusive Supervision’s Negative Outcomes. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26, 476-494. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051818781816
Kothari, C. R. (2013). Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques . New Age International Ltd
Lam, L. W., & Xu, A. J. (2018). Power Imbalance and Employee Silence: The Role of Abusive Leadership, Power Distance Orientation, and Perceived Organisational Politics. Applied Psychology, 68, 513-546. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12170
Lee, S., Yun, S., & Srivastava, A. (2013). Evidence for a Curvilinear Relationship between Abusive Supervision and Creativity in South Korea. The Leadership Quarterly, 24, 724-731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.07.002
Lin, W., Wang, L., & Chen, S. (2013). Abusive Supervision and Employee Well‐Being: The Moderating Effect of Power Distance Orientation. Applied Psychology, 62, 308-329. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.2012.00520.x
Mahooti, M., Vasli, P., & Asadi, E. (2018). Effect of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Family-Centered Care: Mediating Role of Multiple Commitment. PLOS ONE, 13, e0204747. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204747
Muldoon, J., Singh, S., & Vidyarthi, P. R. (2019). Casting a Long Shadow: Leader-Leader Relationship and Employee Citizenship Behavior. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26, 60-72. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051818764288
Müller, A., & Weigl, M. (2017). SOC Strategies and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors toward the Benefits of Co-Workers: A Multi-Source Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article No. 1740. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01740
Neuman, J. H., & Baron, R. A. (2005). Aggression in the Workplace: A Social-Psychological Perspective. In S. Fox, & P. E. Spector (Eds.), Counterproductive Work Behavior: Investigations of Actors and Targets (pp. 13-40). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10893-001
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human Reso urce Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage . McGraw-Hill Education
Organ, D. W. (1997). Organizational Citizenship Behavior: It’s Construct Clean-Up Time. Human Performance, 10, 85-97. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1002_2
Public Service Act (1994). Constitution of the Republic of South Africa: Rationalisation of Public Administration: Replacement of Laws on Public Services.
Rotundo, M., & Sackett, P. R. (2002). The Relative Importance of Task, Citizenship, and Counterproductive Performance to Global Ratings of Job Performance: A Policy-Capturing Approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 66-80. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.1.66
Saks, A., & A. Gruman, J. (2014). Making Organizations More Effective through Organizational Socialization. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People an d Performance, 1, 261-280. https://doi.org/10.1108/joepp-07-2014-0036
Tepper, B. J., Carr, J. C., Breaux, D. M., Geider, S., Hu, C., & Hua, W. (2009). Abusive Supervision, Intentions to Quit, and Employees’ Workplace Deviance: A Power/Dependence Analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision P rocesses, 1 09, 156-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2009.03.004
Vey, M. A., & Campbell, J. P. (2004). In-Role or Extra-Role Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Which Are We Measuring? Human Performance, 17, 119-135. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1701_6
Zhong, L., Wayne, S. J., & Liden, R. (2014). Job Engagement, Perceived Organizational Support, High-Performance Human Resource Practices, and Cultural Value Orientations: A Cross-Level Investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 60, 41-60.