What if the evil ones fear falling? Psychopathic leadersˋ engagement in abusive supervision and the moderating role of fear of power loss

Hüsing, Marile (2023) What if the evil ones fear falling? Psychopathic leadersˋ engagement in abusive supervision and the moderating role of fear of power loss. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

To mitigate the adverse consequences of abusive supervision for individual employees, teams and organizations, it is important to understand the conditions under which leaders are more or less prone to engaging in abusive supervision. This study examined leader psychopathy and leader’s fear of power loss as possible predictors of abusive supervision. In line with previous research, we proposed a positive relationship between leader psychopathy and abusive supervision (Hypothesis 1). Further, we proposed that leaders’ fear of power loss strengthens the positive relationship between leader psychopathy and abusive supervision (Hypothesis 2). We tested our hypotheses in a survey of Dutch supervisor-subordinate dyads (N = 125). In line with our predictions, results showed that leader psychopathy was positively associated with abusive supervision. However, we did not find support for our second hypothesis suggesting that the positive relationship between leader psychopathy and abusive supervision would be moderated by fear of power loss. We discuss the study’s theoretical and practical implications, alongside its limitations.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Rus, D.C.
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Work, Organizational and Personnel Psychology (WOP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	24 Jul 2023 11:53
Last Modified:	24 Jul 2023 11:53
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/2573

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