The double-edged sword: The role of goal congruence in employee emotional and behavioral reactions to supervisor bottom-line mentality

In today’s complex and challenging business market, organizational supervisors place greater emphasis than before on maximizing profits. However, a singular focus on achieving bottom-line outcomes has been shown to have both positive and negative effects on employees, highlighting a complexity that demands further investigation. While existing literature has acknowledged the double-edged nature of supervisor bottom-line mentality, they have predominantly relied on cognitive processes. Building upon reinforcement sensitivity theory, this research shifts the focus to emotional mechanisms, investigating how the emotions of anger and harmonious passion mediate the dual impacts of supervisor bottom-line mentality on follower feedback-related behaviors and whether these relationships are contingent upon follower goal congruence with supervisor bottom-line mentality. We tested the proposed conceptual model by conducting two experimental studies and a multi-wave field study. Our findings enhance the scholarly understanding of when and how supervisor bottom-line mentality can evoke distinct emotions in employees, offering fresh insights into its double-edged effects. • A dual-path emotional model illustrating the double-edged effects of supervisor BLM. • Supervisor BLM may lead to employee harmonious passion and anger. • Goal congruence alters employee emotional reactions to supervisor BLM. • Supervisor BLM influences employee feedback-related behaviors via emotions. • Investigation into the employee emotional experiences in the hospitality industry.