Extending the trickle-down model of abusive supervision. The role of moral disengagement

A scarce amount of dark-side leadership research is replicated. As such, the goal of our research is to replicate and extend the trickle-down model of abusive supervision. To accomplish this goal, we draw upon social cognitive theory and utilize the foundational work of Mawritz, Mayer, Hoobler, Wayne, and Marinova (2012) in an effort to affirm their novel findings. Similarly, the data from our multi-source field study offers additional support regarding the trickle-down model of abusive behavior across 3 hierarchical levels (i.e., managers, supervisors, subordinates). Additionally, while remaining consistent within our social cognitive framework, we examine and explain the mediating effect of supervisory moral disengagement with respect to the trickle-down effect of abusive behavior. The integration of supervisory moral disengagement as an underlying role-modeling mechanism further enhances our understanding of this particular trickle-down effect, as we directly measured a role-modeling mechanism that was alluded to in the original study.