Linking Abusive Supervision to Psychological Distress and Turnover Intentions Among Police Personnel: The Moderating Role of Continuance Commitment

Abstract

In this study, we examine the linkages between abusive supervision, psychological distress, and turnover intentions. In addition, we aim to investigate whether continuance commitment moderates the effects of abusive supervision and psychological distress on turnover intentions. The sample of the study comprised 250 police personnel from one of the largest cities of Pakistan. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and hypotheses were tested with linear regressions using the PROCESS macro. We found that abusive supervision positively predicts psychological distress that, in turn, positively predicts turnover intentions. Furthermore, continuance commitment attenuates the impacts of abusive supervision and psychological distress on turnover intentions. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating that sustained exposure to abusive supervision affects subordinates’ turnover intentions directly as well as indirectly through psychological distress, and that the positive impacts of abusive supervision and associated psychological distress on turnover intentions are weaker among individuals who are high in continuance commitment compared with those who are low. A number of practical implications are also discussed.

Keywords

abusive supervision continuance commitment Pakistan psychological distress turnover intentions

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