• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.175-190
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• 2022

Abusive supervision occurs in a social context in which third-party observers react and interact with the abused victims and supervisors. Despite the importance of third-party observers' behavior in abusive supervision, research on abusive supervision has mainly focused on the dyadic relationship between direct victims and supervisors. Although in recent years research on third parties' reactions to peer abusive supervision has attracted growing attention, there are still insufficient studies examining the topic especially within domestic research in Korea. As such, this study comprehensively reviews empirical studies on third parties' reactions to peer abusive supervision and aims to broaden the scope of research in the field. Firstly, the results of previous studies show that the effects of observed peer abusive supervision are mediated by cognitive and affective processes. Secondly, previous studies are found to investigate the boundary conditions where the effects of observed peer abusive supervision can be amplified or mitigated with regard to various outcomes. Overall, compared to research on direct victims, research on third-party observers of abusive supervision is found to capture a wider spectrum of responses. In order to explain the mechanisms of this phenomena, this study thoroughly examines theoretical assumptions presented in previous studies and categorizes them into five theory types. Finally, this study identifies a couple of central methodological issues, including common method bias and inadequate model specification in the literature and suggests future research directions.