From frustration to workplace conflict
Examining supervisor job demands, downward bullying and the role of personality and power dynamics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21620134 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Muhammad Usman (0000-0002-6131-2118, Curtin University Malaysia Faculty of Business, , Miri), Jin Cheng (0000-0003-2535-4422, Xiamen University School of Management , Xiamen), Usman Ghani (0009-0001-3950-5132, IQRA University Business Administration , Karachi, , and School of Management, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China), Nasib Dar (0000-0001-7699-3713, Institut d'Economie Scientifique Et de Gestion), Xin Sun (0000-0001-6110-5656, Xiamen University School of Management , Xiamen) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 527-552 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Conflict Management (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1044-4068 • E-ISSN: 1758-8545 |
| Publisher | Emerald (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1108/ijcma-03-2025-0093 |
| OpenAlex | W4416724897 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 100 |
Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the supervisor-level antecedents of downward bullying (destructive dyadic conflict) in workplace settings. Grounded in affective events theory, the authors propose that supervisor job demands trigger workplace frustration, a strong negative emotional response that may drive supervisors to engage in downward bullying. Furthermore, they hypothesize that a supervisor's personality trait – neuroticism – and value system – power distance orientation – moderate these relationships along the mediational pathway. Design/methodology/approach To test these propositions, the authors develop and validate a moderated mediation model, using multi-time, multi-organization and multi-source data (n = 334 dyads) collected from Chinese employees. Findings The findings of this study provide robust support for the hypothesized relationships. Originality/value This research uniquely explains how supervisor job demands foster downward bullying via frustration by integrating Affective Events Theory with workplace conflict and moderating effects of neuroticism and power distance orientation
Big Five personality traits · Core self-evaluations · Mediation · Neuroticism · Personality · Supervisor · Trait · Conflict Management and Negotiation · Job Satisfaction and Organizational Behavior · Workplace Violence and Bullying
Individual Power Distance Orientation and Follower Reactions to Transformational Leaders
The role of personal resources in the job demands-resources model.
Outcomes of exposure to workplace bullying
The Personal Costs of Citizenship Behavior
Job resources boost work engagement, particularly when job demands are high.
Development of four self-report measures of job stressors and strain
Burnout
Culture and Organizations
Comparison of EPI and psychoticism scales with measures of the five-factor model of personality
The dimensionality of counterproductivity
Psychosocial factors at work and risk of depression
Abusive Supervision and Employee Well‐Being
Can “good” stressors spark “bad” behaviors? The mediating role of emotions in links of challenge and hindrance stressors with citizenship and counterproductive behaviors.
Does power distance exacerbate or mitigate the effects of abusive supervision? It depends on the outcome.
Exploring the Nature of Power Distance
The Five-Factor Model of Personality and Its Relevance to Personality Disorders
Common method biases in behavioral research
Sources of Method Bias in Social Science Research and Recommendations on How to Control It
Human Aggression
The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure.
The job demands-resources model of burnout.
Careless responding in questionnaire measures
Too much may be a bad thing
The longitudinal relationships among agreeableness, anger rumination, and aggression
A role that takes its toll? The moderating role of leadership in role stress and exposure to workplace bullying
Exploring the efficacy of mediation in cases of workplace bullying
How does chronic burnout affect dealing with weekly job demands? A test of central propositions in JD‐R and COR‐theories
Rational Counterattack
Help and hindrance
Assessing and attacking workplace incivility
Relationships of work stressors with aggression, withdrawal, theft and substance use
Conservation of Resources in the Organizational Context
Bullying and incivility in higher education workplaces
A preliminary analysis of the construct validity of Kerr & Jermier's ‘Substitutes for Leadership’ Scales
Ways of Explaining Workplace Bullying
The Mediating Role of Perceptions of Abusive Supervision in the Relationship Between Personality and Aggression
Culture's Recent Consequences
The role of discrete emotions in job satisfaction
Cultural variation and the psychological contract
Supervisors' exceedingly difficult goals and abusive supervision
Feeling bad
Location, location, location
The Janus face of paternalistic leaders
A model of work frustration-aggression
Supervisor role overload and frustration as antecedents of abusive supervision
A meta‐analysis integrating 20 years of workplace incivility research
Neuroticism and emotional risk during the Covid-19 pandemic
Frustration-based outcomes of entitlement and the influence of supervisor communication
From catalog to classification
Threatened egotism, narcissism, self-esteem, and direct and displaced aggression
A framework for studying personality in the stress process
The displaced aggression questionnaire
Separating description and evaluation in the structure of personality attributes
Personality and susceptibility to positive and negative emotional states
Linking "big" personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders
Consequences of Workplace Bullying on Employee Identification and Satisfaction Among Australians and Singaporeans
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |