An “approach-avoidance perspective” to link abusive supervision with employee silence through discrete emotions

Purpose This study examines the impact of abusive supervision on employee silence via discrete emotions (fear and sadness). Victims are less likely to retaliate against those with authority and may experience fear and sadness due to supervisors’ abusive behavior, leading to information withholding (i.e. employee silence). We postulate that the level of supervisors’ remorse influences abusive supervisory behavior, mitigates its detrimental effects on discrete emotions, and discourages employee silence. Design/methodology/approach This study uses multi-source data at two measurement points to test a moderated mediation model linking abusive supervision with employee fear and sadness, which leads to employee silence. The data were collected from 344 respondents working in different organizations in Romania. We used the PROCESS macro for SPSS to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Findings The results indicated that abusive supervision triggers fear and sadness among employees, prompting employee silence. The data supported the moderating effect of perceived supervisor remorse on the relationship between abusive supervision and discrete emotions (fear and sadness). Further analysis showed that the interaction between abusive supervision and perceived supervisor remorse predicts employee silence only through employee sadness. Originality/value This study contributes to leadership research by applying the approach-avoidance model to link abusive supervision and employee silence. Unlike prior research, which has focused on approach-oriented reactions, we emphasize avoidance-oriented responses as an alternative behavioral outcome of abusive supervision. Drawing on the attributional perspective, we theorize that supervisors’ remorseful apologies may mitigate its detrimental effects.