The Culprit from Emotional Abuse to Emotional Assault Caused by Downward Workplace Mobbing
In the present study we are interested in mobbing from the target's perspective as a consequence of abusive supervision. It has been established that employees are often the victims of abusive supervision at the workplace but it is surprising and intriguing that no research till date has paid attention to how and when abusive supervision leads to mobbing. We propose a theoretical model exploring why and under what circumstances, abusive supervision leads to mobbing among employees in the banking sector. Based on the affective events theory, we examine the process variable of work stress and two moderation effects of perceived organizational support and external locus of control. With the final sample of 295 banking employees, the study findings demonstrate that perceived organizational support strengthens the positive impact of abusive supervision on work stress. Furthermore, the findings identify that external locus of control exacerbates the impact of work stress on mobbing. The moderatedmediation model tested in this study provides interesting results for organizational practitioners and scholars pertaining to the area of human resource management and organizational behavior.