Affect event theory, perceived subordinate loyalty, and social undermining behavior In the workplace, loyalty to supervisors and trust in subordinates are key factors in promoting subordinate performance and leadership effectiveness, especially in Taiwanese organizations.When supervisors perceive loyalty from their subordinates, they are more likely to trust them, reduce distrust, and offer more forgiveness, which helps subordinates demonstrate effectiveness and innovation.Recent studies proposed that trust and distrust should be viewed as different constructs, reflecting different positive and negative social exchange processes (Jiang et al., 2018; Chan SUBs refer to the intended actions that hinder others' reputation, performance, and contribution.Supervisors' SUBs are indeed damaging the relationship between supervisors and subordinates.Supervisor forgiveness and social undermining behaviors have gained significant attention in recent studies, as they help understand how supervisors can build highperformance and innovative teams.Supervisors might perceive loyal subordinates as merely putting on a show for substantial benefits rather than being genuinely sincere.Furthermore, supervisors might feel threatened by a subordinate's outstanding performance, which could challenge their status.Cropanzano et al. (2017) suggest that emotions being a crucial factor to consider in developing leader-member relationships.According to LMX affective events theory, when loyal subordinates possess higher relative competence to the supervisor, it might foster trust from supervisors but also pose a potential sense of threat (Aquino Fiske et al., 2018), prompting supervisors to seek further confirmation of the subordinate's loyalty.Perceiving a subordinate's appreciation can effectively alleviate such anxieties.Appreciation refers to expressing affirmation of others' actions and values, and supervisors can perceive subordinates' appreciation towards them (Gordon et al., 2012).Based on the above discussion, this study will explore the relationship between supervisors' perceptions of subordinate loyalty and forgiveness, social undermining, trust, or distrust toward subordinates, and the moderating effects of supervisors' perceptions of subordinates' appreciation and relative competence.Method Procedure.The study developed scenarios for experimental stimuli, manipulating the independent variables through a vignette format, resulting in eight groups of scenarios with a 2 (high vs. low subordinate loyalty) 2 (high vs. low relative competence) 2 (high vs. low perceived appreciation) framework.Based on the story content, participants will read the vignette and reflect on their work experiences before completing the following questionnaires: trust, distrust, forgiveness, and SUBs.Sample.340 managerial personnel from Taiwanese organizations participated in this study, with an average of about 42 participants in each experimental scenario group.Of the participants, 33% are male, and 67% are female, with the majority aged between 36 and 40.The education level is predominantly at the university level.MeasuresMeasures in this study used a 6-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree).Experimental Materials: Perceived Subordinate Loyalty Vignette.Based on Jiang's (2009) research."Whether you are present or not, this subordinate always supports your perspectives and opinions, actively coordinating and helping explain the rationale
Hsiao et al. (Wed,) studied this question.