Cleansing my abuse: A reparative response model of perpetrating abusive supervisor behavior
Open accessAbstract
Research on abusive supervision has predominantly focused on the consequences for victims while overlooking how leaders respond to their own abusive behavior. Drawing from the literature on moral cleansing, we posit that supervisors who engage in abusive behavior may paradoxically engage in more constructive leadership behaviors subsequently as a result of feeling guilty and perceiving loss of moral credits. Results from two experience sampling studies show that, within leaders on a daily basis, perpetrating abusive supervisor behavior led to an increase in experienced guilt and perceived loss of moral credits, which in turn motivated leaders to engage in more constructive person-oriented (consideration) and task-oriented (initiating structure) leadership behaviors. In addition, leader moral attentiveness and moral courage strengthen these indirect effects by amplifying leaders' awareness of their immoral behavior and their willingness and determination to make reparations for such behavior. Our research contributes to the theoretical understanding of leaders' responses toward their own abusive supervisor behavior and provides insights into how and when destructive leadership behaviors may, paradoxically, trigger more constructive behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Abusive supervision is sometimes followed by subsequent positive leadership behaviors.
“research on abusive supervision has demonstrated that such behavior is sometimes followed by subsequent positive leadership behaviors.”
From The evolution of leadership: Past insights, present trends, and future directions (2025) · cites this paper as Liao et al., 2018
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
1 retracted
Gino, F., Kouchaki, M., & Galinsky, A. D. (2015) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0956797615575277 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
RetractedPodsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879 · Cited by 82,194 · see citing works
(2010) · Intellectum (Universidad de La Sabana) · doi:10.1111/j.1467- · Cited by 16,131 · see citing works
In A Different Voice: Psychological Theory And Women's Development
Gilligan, & Carol, C. (1982) · Cited by 10,877 · see citing works
Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences.
Henry, N. W., Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. R. (1977) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2064799 · Cited by 7,231 · see citing works
Preacher, K. J., Curran, P. J., & Bauer, D. J. (2006) · Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics · doi:10.3102/10769986031004437 · Cited by 5,044 · see citing works
Diary Methods: Capturing Life as it is Lived
Bolger, N., Davis, A., & Rafaeli, E. (2003) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145030 · Cited by 3,843 · see citing works
Consequences of abusive supervision.
Tepper, B. J. (2000) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/1556375 · Cited by 3,810 · see citing works
A general multilevel SEM framework for assessing multilevel mediation
Preacher, K. J., Zyphur, M. J., & Zhang, Z. (2010) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/a0020141 · Cited by 3,796 · see citing works
(1980) · Methodology · Cited by 3,570 · see citing works
The self-importance of moral identity
Aquino, K., & Reed, A. (2002) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423 · Cited by 3,522 · see citing works
Consequences of Abusive Supervision
Tepper, B. J. (2000) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/1556375 · Cited by 2,125 · see citing works
Handbook of research methods for studying daily life
Mehl, M. R., Conner, T. S., & Csíkszentmihályi, M. (2012) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.50-1159 · Cited by 2,121 · see citing works
Guilt: An interpersonal approach
Baumeister, R. F., Stillwell, A. M., & Heatherton, T. F. (1994) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.115.2.243 · Cited by 1,884 · see citing works
Behavioral Ethics in Organizations: A Review
Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., & Reynolds, S. J. (2006) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206306294258 · Cited by 1,837 · see citing works
Abusive Supervision in Work Organizations: Review, Synthesis, and Research Agenda
Tepper, B. J. (2007) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206307300812 · Cited by 1,698 · see citing works
Toward a Theory of Paradox: A Dynamic equilibrium Model of Organizing
Smith, W. K., & Lewis, M. W. (2011) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2009.0223 · Cited by 1,631 · see citing works
Are shame, guilt, and embarrassment distinct emotions?
Tangney, J. P., Miller, R. S., Flicker, L., & Barlow, D. H. (1996) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.6.1256 · Cited by 1,556 · see citing works
SOCIAL UNDERMINING IN THE WORKPLACE.
Duffy, M. K., Ganster, D. C., & Pagon, M. (2002) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/3069350 · Cited by 1,494 · see citing works
Dinh, J. E., Lord, R. G., Gardner, W. L., Meuser, J. D., Liden, R. C., & Hu, J. (2014) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.005 · Cited by 1,426 · see citing works
The Forgotten Ones? The Validity of Consideration and Initiating Structure in Leadership Research.
Judge, T. A., Piccolo, R. F., & Ilies, R. (2004) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.1.36 · Cited by 1,265 · see citing works
Kohlberg, L. (1971) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-498640-4.50011-1 · Cited by 1,128 · see citing works
Paradox and Performance: Toward a Theory of Behavioral Complexity in Managerial Leadership
Denison, D. R., Hooijberg, R., & Quinn, R. E. (1995) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.6.5.524 · Cited by 928 · see citing works
Ethical and Unethical Leadership: Exploring New Avenues for Future Research
Brown, M. E., & Mitchell, M. S. (2010) · Business Ethics Quarterly · doi:10.5840/beq201020439 · Cited by 881 · see citing works
Cranford, J. A., Shrout, P. E., Iida, M., Rafaeli, E., Yip, T., & Bolger, N. P. (2006) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167206287721 · Cited by 869 · see citing works
Sinning Saints and Saintly Sinners
Sachdeva, S. S., Iliev, R. I., & Medin, D. L. (2009) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02326.x · Cited by 777 · see citing works
Abusive supervision: A meta-analysis and empirical review
Mackey, J. D., Frieder, R. E., Brees, J. R., & Martinko, M. J. (2017) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206315573997 · Cited by 706 · see citing works
The application of hierarchical linear modeling to organizational research.
Hofmann, D. A., Griffin, M. A., & Gavin, M. B. (2000) · Cited by 642 · see citing works
Berry, C. M., Carpenter, N. C., & Barratt, C. L. (2011) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0026739 · Cited by 623 · see citing works
PATTERNS OF LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOR RELATED TO EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCES AND TURNOVER
Fleishman, E. A., & Harris, E. F. (1962) · Personnel Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1962.tb01845.x · Cited by 616 · see citing works
Tangney, J. P. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.59.1.102 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Tangney, J. P. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.59.1.102 · Cited by 601 · see citing works
Appraisal Antecedents of Shame and Guilt: Support for a Theoretical Model
Tracy, J. L., & Robins, R. W. (2006) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167206290212 · Cited by 574 · see citing works
Tepper, B. J., Moss, S. E., & Duffy, M. K. (2011) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2011.60263085 · Cited by 551 · see citing works
Striving for the Moral Self: The Effects of Recalling Past Moral Actions on Future Moral Behavior
Jordan, J., Mullen, E., & Murnighan, J. K. (2011) · Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin · doi:10.1177/0146167211400208 · Cited by 484 · see citing works
Victim and perpetrator accounts of interpersonal conflict: Autobiographical narratives about anger.
Baumeister, R. F., Stillwell, A. M., & Wotman, S. R. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.59.5.994 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
Victim and perpetrator accounts of interpersonal conflict: Autobiographical narratives about anger.
Baumeister, R. F., Stillwell, A. M., & Wotman, S. R. (1990) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.59.5.994 · Cited by 471 · see citing works
Multilevel structural equation models for assessing moderation within and across levels of analysis.
Preacher, K. J., Zhang, Z., & Zyphur, M. J. (2015) · Psychological Methods · doi:10.1037/met0000052 · Cited by 467 · see citing works
Moral attentiveness: Who pays attention to the moral aspects of life?
Reynolds, S. J. (2008) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.5.1027 · Cited by 449 · see citing works
Barnes, C. M., Lucianetti, L., Bhave, D. P., & Christian, M. S. (2015) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2013.1063 · Cited by 441 · see citing works
Self-Serving Justifications: Doing Wrong and Feeling Moral
Shalvi, S., Gino, F., Barkan, R., & Ayal, S. (2015) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721414553264 · Cited by 422 · see citing works
MORAL MATURATION AND MORAL CONATION: A CAPACITY APPROACH TO EXPLAINING MORAL THOUGHT AND ACTION.
Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., & May, D. R. (2011) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2010.0128 · Cited by 402 · see citing works
Lin, S., Ma, J., & Johnson, R. E. (2016) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000098 · Cited by 386 · see citing works
Self-citationConsistency Versus Licensing Effects of Past Moral Behavior
Mullen, E., & Monin, B. (2015) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115120 · Cited by 386 · see citing works
Miller, D. T., & Effron, D. A. (2010) · Advances in experimental social psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(10)43003-8 · Cited by 350 · see citing works
Yam, K. C., Klotz, A. C., He, W., & Reynolds, S. J. (2016) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2014.0234 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
Self-citationFacing Ethical Challenges in the Workplace: Conceptualizing and Measuring Professional Moral Courage
Sekerka, L. E., Bagozzi, R. P., & Charnigo, R. J. (2009) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-008-0017-5 · Cited by 316 · see citing works
Consequences of abusive supervision: A meta-analytic review
Zhang, Y. E., & Liao, Z. (2015) · Asia Pacific Journal of Management · doi:10.1007/s10490-015-9425-0 · Cited by 299 · see citing works
Self-citationJohnson, R. E., Venus, M., Lanaj, K., Mao, C., & Chang, C.-H. (2012) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0029043 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Self-citationQin, X., Huang, M., Johnson, R. E., Hu, Q., & Ju, D. (2018) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2016.1325 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Self-citationCourtright, S. H., Gardner, R. G., Smith, T. A., McCormick, B. W., & Colbert, A. E. (2015) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2013.1009 · Cited by 234 · see citing works
Moralized Leadership: The Construction and Consequences of Ethical Leader Perceptions
Fehr, R., Yam, K. C., & Dang, C. T. (2014) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.2013.0358 · Cited by 220 · see citing works
Self-citationIlieș, R., Wagner, D. T., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.92.4.1140 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Leadership styles and group organizational citizenship behavior across cultures
Euwema, M. C., Wendt, H., & van Emmerik, H. (2007) · Journal of Organizational Behavior · doi:10.1002/job.496 · Cited by 204 · see citing works
Mood spillover and crossover among dual-earner couples: A cell phone event sampling study.
Song, Z., Foo, M., & Uy, M. A. (2008) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.2.443 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Self-citationLanaj, K., Johnson, R. E., & Lee, S. M. (2015) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000052 · Cited by 197 · see citing works
Self-citationUy, M. A., Lin, K. J., & Ilieș, R. (2016) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2015.0611 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Yam, K. C., Fehr, R., Keng, F. T., Klotz, A. C., & Reynolds, S. J. (2015) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/apl0000043 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Self-citationFoulk, T. A., Lanaj, K., Tu, M., Erez, A., & Archambeau, L. (2017) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.5465/amj.2015.1061 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Zhong, C., Ku, G., Lount, R. B., & Murnighan, J. K. (2009) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-009-0161-6 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Memories of unethical actions become obfuscated over time
Kouchaki, M., & Francesca Gino, B. (2016) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1523586113 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Guilty and helpful: An emotion-based reparatory model of voluntary work behavior.
Ilieș, R., Peng, A. C., Savani, K., & Dimotakis, N. E. (2013) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0034162 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Weaver, G. R., Reynolds, S. J., & Brown, M. E. (2013) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206313511272 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
New Leader Behavior Description Subscales
Stogdill, R. M., Goode, O. S., & Day, D. R. (1962) · The Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1080/00223980.1962.9713117 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
West, C., & Zhong, C. (2015) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.09.022 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
The Antecedents of Moral Imagination in the Workplace: A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective
Whitaker, B. G., & Godwin, L. N. (2012) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1327-1 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Relations between Moral Judgment, Moral Courage, and Field Independence
Gibbs, J. C., Clark, P. M., Joseph, J. A., Green, J. L., Goodrick, T. S., & Makowski, D. G. (1986) · Child Development · doi:10.2307/1130650 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
The hungry thief: Physiological deprivation and its effects on unethical behavior
Yam, K. C., Reynolds, S. J., & Hirsh, J. B. (2014) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.07.002 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Self-citationMoral Leadership and Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model
Wang, Y., & Li, H. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02640 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Moral balance: A model of how people arrive at moral decisions.
Nisan, M. (1990) · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [16]16. Fleishman, E. A. (1995). Consideration and structure: Another look at their role in leadership research. In F. Dansereau & F. J. Yammarino (Eds.), Leadership: The multiple-level approaches (pp. 51-60). Stamford, CT: JAI Press.
- [20]20. Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- [67]67. Zhong, C. B., Liljenquist, K., & Cain, D. M. (2009). Moral self-regulation: Licensing & compensation. In D. De Cremer (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on ethical behavior and decision making (pp. 75-89). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mackey, J. D., Parker Ellen, B., McAllister, C. P., & Alexander, K. C. (2021) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.10.037 · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Leading day-to-day: A review of the daily causes and consequences of leadership behaviors
Kelemen, T. K., Matthews, S. H., & Breevaart, K. (2020) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2019.101344 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
The evolution of leadership: Past insights, present trends, and future directions
Liden, R. C., Wang, X., & Wang, Y. (2025) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.115036 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Feeling Guilty and Entitled: Paradoxical Consequences of Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior
Chen, M., Chen, C. C., & Schminke, M. (2023) · Journal of Business Ethics · doi:10.1007/s10551-022-05109-x · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Making nice or faking nice? Exploring supervisors’ two-faced response to their past abusive behavior
McClean, S. T., Courtright, S. H., Yim, J., & Smith, T. A. (2021) · Personnel Psychology · doi:10.1111/peps.12424 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Ogbonnaya, C., Babalola, M. T., Ali, M., Ren, S., Usman, M., & Wang, Z. (2025) · Journal of Management Studies · doi:10.1111/joms.13051 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
- Authors
- Liao, Z., Yam, K. C., Johnson, R. E., Liu, W., & Song, Z.
- Affiliations
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Psychology
- Published
- 2018-09
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1039-1056
- ISSN
- 0021-9010 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1854
- OpenAlex
- W2801233693
- Cited by
- 151
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 18.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PolyU Institutional Research Archive (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) (submittedVersion)
- National University of Singapore (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Singapore Ministry of Education (R-317-000-110-112; R-317-000-132-115)
- Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (RGCPolyU155006/15B)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Workplace Violence and Bullying
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Ethics in Business and Education
- Keywords
- abusive supervision, moral cleansing, moral credit, constructive leadership, consideration, initiating structure, moral courage, moral attentiveness, destructive leadership
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aggression, China, Conscience, Emotions, Employment, Female, Humans, Leadership, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Models, Psychological, Morals, Motivation, Power, Psychological, Surveys and Questionnaires, Self Concept, Social Behavior, Social Perception
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
