How cultural values affect the impact of abusive supervision on worker attitudes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of cultural values on the relationship between abusive supervision, or workplace bullying, and worker job attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement, negative well‐being and perceived organizational support. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used a survey to collect cross‐cultural data from workers in the USA and South Korea to test hypotheses regarding how cultural values affect the impact of abusive supervision on employee attitudes. Unlike previous research, the authors measured cultural values directly, rather than using nation as a proxy for culture. Findings – It was found that the effects of abusive supervision on workers' job‐related attitudes are moderated by some, but not all, cultural values. In particular, moderating effects were found for Schwartz' achievement and benevolence values, but not for power values. Additionally, evidence was found that some of the measures commonly used in organizational research are not invariant across cultures. Originality/value – Although the incidence of abusive supervision has been well documented in the USA and research on the causes and consequences of abusive supervision has grown steadily, very few studies have examined this topic in a cross‐cultural context. This study addresses this important, yet under‐researched issue by examining the joint effects of cultural values and abusive supervision on employee attitudes, using a cross‐cultural sample of workers.