Felt or thought? Examining distinct mechanisms of exploitative leadership and abusive supervision.

Over the last years, there has been a steady increase in research on destructive forms of leadership. However, less attention has been paid to the question whether and to what degree different yet related destructive leadership behaviors may exert distinct effects on followers. In this research, we seek to address this question by testing the differential effects of abusive supervision versus exploitative leadership on followers’ satisfaction with the leader and turnover intentions. Borrowing from justice theory, our theoretical model proposes that abusive supervision, as an inherently interpersonal provocation, impacts followers mainly through the mediating influence of negative affect towards the leader. In contrast, exploitative leadership, with its inherent focus on leader self-interest, is expected to affect followers mainly through cognitive means, i.e., perceived imbalance in social exchange. Results from two studies provide general support for our predictions. Study 1 was a two-wave field study, confirming the differential effects of abusive supervision and exploitative leadership on negative affect and perceived imbalance in social exchange. Study 2 used an experimental vignette approach, supporting that the obtained effects are causal. Moreover, it found that the effect of abusive supervision on negative affect was mediated by perceptions of interpersonal injustice, whereas exploitative leadership affected imbalance in social exchange perceptions through perceived distributive injustice. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of what destructive leaders actually do and how different destructive behaviors impact followers in unique ways.