ABSTRACT
Recent studies suggest that some employees are more apt to perceive abusive supervision than others, such as employees with high levels of psychological entitlement and those with hostile attributional biases (Brees, Martinko, & Harvey, 2016; Harvey, Harris, Gillis, & Martinko, 2014; Martinko, Harvey, Sikora, & Douglas, 2011; Wu & Hu, 2009). These studies share the premise that identical or similar supervisory behavior may be perceived as abusive by one subordinate and nonabusive by another. This may be particularly relevant in the case of supervisor behavior that is critical or punitive in nature. For example, one employee might view a critical performance evaluation as a personal insult whereas another might view the same feedback as constructive.
