Does religiosity matter in the workplace? A moderated-mediated examination of abusive supervision, revenge and deviance

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the influence of religiosity on the relationship between abusive supervision and deviant work behavior (DWB). This paper examines whether the desire for revenge mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and DWB and whether the strength of this relationship is moderated by religiosity. Design/methodology/approach The proposed relationships were examined by collecting primary data from 350 employees using multistage sampling procedures. Hayes’ Process Macro was used to analyze the proposed moderated-mediation model of abusive supervision, DWB, religiosity and desire for revenge. Findings The analytical findings indicate that an employee’s desire for revenge mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and DWB. However, religiosity moderates the indirect effect of abusive supervision (mediated by the desire for revenge) on DWB. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the role of individual-level religiosity in mitigating the harmful effects of abusive supervision on deviant behavior and revenge in the workplace.