Understanding cycles of abuse: A multimotive approach.
研究员工对上司辱虐的情绪和行为反应如何可能加剧或缓解虐待循环，基于多动机模型分析6波追踪数据发现愤怒驱动对抗行为、恐惧驱动回避行为，且这些反应会反向强化上司的虐待。
Fundamental to the definition of abusive supervision is the notion that subordinates are often victims of a pattern of mistreatment (Tepper, 2000). However, little research has examined the processes through which such destructive relational patterns emerge. In this study, we draw from and extend the multimotive model of reactions to interpersonal threat (Smart Richman & Leary, 2009) to formulate and test hypotheses about how employees' emotional and behavioral responses may ameliorate or worsen supervisors' abuse. To test this model, we collected 6 waves of data from a sample of 244 employees. Results revealed reciprocal relationships between abusive supervision and both supervisor-directed counterproductive behavior and supervisor-directed avoidance. Whereas the abusive supervision--counterproductive behavior relationship was partially driven by anger, the abusive supervision--avoidance relationship was partially mediated by fear. These findings suggest that some may find themselves in abusive relationships, in part, because their own reactions to mistreatment can, perhaps unknowingly, reinforce abusive behavior.