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NTU Management Review Vol. 33 No. 3 Dec. 2023

Shrewd Calculation or Beautiful Illusion? Exploring the
Relationship between Abusive Supervision, Follower Perceived
Leadership Effectiveness, and Supervisor-Directed Citizenship

Behaviors: The Moderating Roles of Supervisor Political Skills
and Physical Attractiveness

Nai-Wen Chi, Institute of Human Resource Management, National Sun Yat-sen University
Wan-Ling Chien, Institute of Human Resource Management, National Sun Yat-sen University
Li-Chun Fang, Department of Marketing and Logistics Management, National Penghu University of
Science and Technology
Yuan-Yu Chien, Institute of Human Resource Management, National Sun Yat-sen University
Szu-Yin Chen, Institute of Human Resource Management, National Sun Yat-sen University

1. Purpose/Objective

“Is there a reason that my coffee isn’t here? Has she died or something?”
“Details of your incompetence do not interest me.” (Miranda, The Devil Wears Prada
movie)

Abusive supervision, or subordinates’ perceptions of “the sustained display of hostile
verbal or nonverbal behaviors, excluding physical contact” (Tepper, 2000), is one of the
most widely studied forms of negative supervisor behavior over the last two decades
(for reviews see Mackey, Frieder, Brees, and Martinko, 2017; Martinko, Harvey, Brees,
and Mackey, 2013; Tepper, Simon, and Park, 2017). Studies have found that abusive

supervision harms subordinates’ well-being (Martinko et al., 2013; Mackey et al., 2017)
and impairs subordinates’ job attitudes and performance (Tepper et al., 2017).
Although the negative consequences of abusive supervision have been recognized

in the literature, few studies have attempted to examine the association between abusive
supervision and leader effectiveness (Kim, Harold, and Holtz, 2022). The review show
that only 4 of reviewed articles have investigated how abusive supervision influences
leader evaluations (e.g., satisfaction/liking/effectiveness) (Fischer, Tian, Lee, and Hughes,
2021) (see Figure 1). Practically, some organizational leaders are able to display abusive

behaviors while maintaining subordinates’ evaluations and perceived effectiveness (e.g.,
Steve Jobs [Apple], Jeff Bezos [Amazon], and Miranda [The Devil Wears Prada movie])

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