Abusive supervision and withdrawal behaviour: some evidence from banking staff in emerging economy

Purpose This study examines the impact of abusive supervision on withdrawal behavior among bank employees at the staff level in Sri Lanka's Northern Province. The study focuses on physical and psychological withdrawal behavior to determine how supervisory behavior influences worker disengagement. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected by a guided questionnaire from 131 employees of licensed commercial banks operating in the Northern Province. The research uses linear regression analysis through the SPSS (Version 29) to explore the linkage between withdrawal behaviour and abusive supervision. Descriptive statistics and correlation matrices were also used to examine associations with demographic variables. Findings This study investigates the impact of abusive supervision on physical and psychological withdrawal behaviors among bank employees in Sri Lanka's Northern Province, a context rarely explored in organizational literature. Using linear regression and SEM, abusive supervision was found to significantly predict withdrawal behaviors (β = 0.649 for physical, β = 0.594 for psychological; p 0.001). Grounded in Conservation of Resources theory, the findings highlight emotional resource depletion as a mechanism driving disengagement, uniquely framed in a post-conflict, culturally distinct banking sector. Originality/value This study uniquely investigates the dual impact of abusive supervision on physical and psychological withdrawal behaviors among bank staff in Sri Lanka's post-conflict Northern Province, an underexplored context in organizational literature. Using Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, it frames withdrawal as a response to emotional resource loss. By incorporating context-specific factors like sector and marital status, the study adds meaningful, theory-driven insights to the global conversation on workplace abuse.