"The tales of your
incompetence don’t interest me."
– Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada
Meryl Streep’s portrayal of bully boss, Miranda Priestly,
in the summer movie The Devil Wears Prada sparked a
nationwide dialogue about real-life workplace tyrants. But
just what makes these adult versions of school-yard bullies
harass employees, and what’s the best way to handle
a bully boss?
A new study by Robinson managerial science professor
Bennett Tepper (coauthors, Michelle K. Duffy, University
of Kentucky; Christine A. Henle, University of North
Carolina; and Lisa Schurer Lambert, Robinson College
of Business), Procedural Injustice, Victim Precipitation, and
Abusive Supervision, published in the March 2006 issue of
Personnel Psychology, finds that supervisors engage in more
abusive behavior when they themselves feel mistreated by
the organization. Based on the study, if supervisors feel
that a company isn’t neutral or respectful when distributing
benefits and other incentives, the boss may become
rude, assign blame, or publicly ridicule those who report
to them. Perceived company injustices can lead a supervisor
into depression, and that can translate into abuse.
But according to Tepper, these “bully bosses” aren’t
equal-opportunity abusers. “They tend to go after subordinates
who portray themselves as weak, vulnerable, or
unable and unwilling to defend themselves.”
The study is based on data from a sample of National
Guard members and their military supervisors. The
participants’ service included (but was not limited to)
activities such as health care, engineering, administrative
duties, and technical and nontechnical training. Subordinates
completed a survey measuring the amount of
abusive supervision they experienced and how anxious or
distressed they were. The supervisors completed a survey
measuring how just they perceived their organization to
be and their level of depression.
To deal with their abusive managers, Tepper said that
employees generally rely on two different strategies.
They either will avoid contact with their boss or they will
confront them. “The more common approach is avoidance,”
said Tepper, who is working on another study that
deals with abusive behavior. “However, we are finding
that those who muster the courage to confront their
supervisors appear to experience less anxiety, lower
burnout rates, and less depression than those who don’t
engage in confrontation.”
However, Tepper is quick to add that those who choose
to avoid their supervisor do so because they fear further
wrath or even the possibility of being fired.
Ultimately though, Tepper said that because injustices
don’t just cause ripples, they also trickle down, the best
way to deal with a bully boss is at the organizational level.
“Companies need to begin by making sure they are treating
supervisors fairly.”
Bottom line, whether the devil is wearing Prada or combat
boots, abusive behavior is dangerous for a company
and never an attractive trait.
Bennett Tepper’s work on issues of organizational justice and the
performance of prosocial and antisocial behaviors in organizations
has been published in top journals. Prior to joining Robinson, he was
a professor of management at the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte, where he served as chair of the Department of Management.
He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of
Management, and he is a member of the board of the Southern
Management Association.
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