How does supervisor personality affect employees' counterproductive work behavior? Roles of team affect stability and trust in supervisors

Purpose We integrated the emotion-centered model of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and conservation of resources (COR) theory, aiming to investigate whether supervisors' extraversion and optimism initiate a resource-building process within a team, which helps decrease subordinates' CWB. Further, we examined a boundary condition of trust in supervisors on the path from supervisor personality factors to subordinates' CWB via team affect stability. Design/methodology/approach We collected multi-phasic data and employed team affect stability rated by supervisors using the experience sampling method. Findings Team affect stability mediated the effects of supervisor extraversion and optimism on subordinates' CWB. The indirect effects of supervisor extraversion and optimism on subordinates' CWB via team affect stability were weaker when trust in supervisors was high rather than low. This is because trust in supervisors prevents team affect variability's deleterious effects, making the resource-building process less influential. Originality/value This study evaluated team affect stability as an affective resource and a resource-building process initiated by supervisor personality factors. It integrated the emotion-centered model of work behaviors with COR theory to explore how these dynamics influence subordinates' CWB.