ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the tipping point between leadership behaviors that are perceived as constructive and those that are seen as abusive. For delicate tasks such as delivering negative feedback or reprimanding employees for counterproductive behaviors, managers must often walk a fine line between motivating and offending employees. The chapter suggests that staying on the desirable side of that distinction may be more difficult with some employees than with others. Those with sensitive affective triggers in the form of the w aspishness, umbrage, and insecurity traits appear more apt to viewing well-intentioned but critical feedback as crossing the line than others. Although the Waspishness-Umbrageous Sensitivity-Insecurity (WUSI) scale showed a consistent factor structure, reliability, and impact on abuse perceptions in both studies, it recognizes that additional testing in diverse populations would be helpful in further validating the scale.
