Purpose This state-of-the-art study assesses the knowledge structure of abusive leadership by presenting the emerging and future trends based on the aggregation of past studies. Abusive supervision is a negative leadership style that imparts negative consequences to organizations. Design/methodology/approach Employing bibliographic coupling and co-word analysis, this study evaluated 227 journal publications via science mapping analysis. Findings The current and emerging themes denote negative organizational outcomes of abusive leadership, while the future trends revolve around understanding abusive supervision in the workplace. Research limitations/implications The implications of this study are to guide scholars and practitioners in understanding the basis of abusive leadership and to make interventions to mitigate its outcome by developing preventive strategies and supportive organizational practices. Originality/value The originality of this review lies in its use of the science mapping technique to synthesize existing knowledge and highlight prospective research avenues on abusive leadership.
Muhammad Ashraf Fauzi (Sat,) studied this question.