Impact of abusive supervision on employee engagement and job burnout via organisational identification: The moderating role of mindfulness

Abstract

This study explores the coping mechanisms of employees facing abusive supervision in two different countries: Pakistan and New Zealand. Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine if the personal resource of employee mindfulness can buffer the destructive effects of abusive supervision on employees’ work engagement and job burnout via organisational identification. Our two separate studies reveal that organisational identification mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and employee work engagement but not job burnout in both countries. However, employee mindfulness only buffers the harmful impact of abusive supervision in the Pakistan sample. Our study reveals new insights into the impact of employees’ personal resources on abusive supervision in two different cultural environments, providing directions for future research and practice.