Their responses were anonymous so that they would be more candid about their abusive behaviors and feelings at work. In particular, we surveyed 79 bosses that volunteered to participate in our study via an online platform. In our study, we examined this possibility using a daily survey approach this enabled us to uncover the motives and behaviors of abusive bosses in “real time” with a sample of people that past studies argue have the keenest insight into those motives and behaviors: the bosses themselves. If this is true, employees and organizations may be unknowingly enabling toxic boss behavior by being too forgiving of it. In other words, some bosses are skilled at looking good after an episode, leading employees and higher ups to forgive and forget - until the next tirade occurs and the cycle continues. It may be that bosses, like Johnson, are not really trying to make nice with employees after an abusive tirade, but, rather, are attempting to fake nice in order to manipulate their social image without actually changing their behavior. However, Johnson’s abusive behavior toward Reedy persisted - and even worsened - during the 15 years they worked together. George Reedy, a long-time aide of President Johnson, wrote in a memoir about how Johnson’s cruelty extended “even to people who had virtually walked the last mile for him.” However, it seemed that whenever Reedy considered resigning, Johnson would present “a lavish gift” or do something else that made it so Reedy “forgot his grievances” and kept working for Johnson. Johnson was notoriously ruthless toward his staff, constantly berating them in public, calling for favors at all hours of the night, and throwing objects at them when they did not work as quickly as they wanted. ![]() In a recent study published in Personnel Psychology, we examined one possibility: After a run-in with a toxic boss, the tendency of many people is to heed what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature” and forgive the indiscretion, especially when the boss appears to be making amends for their uncivil behavior. ![]() ![]() Why, then, does it seem that organizations and employees put up with toxic bosses? Yet, abusive bosses continue to wreak havoc and leave destruction in their wake. Toxic actions such as these contribute to not only employee dissatisfaction and stress, but even more harmful outcomes such as alcoholism, family conflict, and health complaints. This behavior takes many forms: insulting direct reports in public, invading their privacy, or gossiping about them behind their backs. Far too many people have worked for a boss who has bullied or belittled them.
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