Psychological entitlement and its impact on teams: a resource perspective on manager-member dynamics

Purpose This study aims to examine the mechanisms through which employee psychological entitlement influence emotional exhaustion and abusive supervision among team managers, and its impact on team cohesion. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory, this study investigated the relationships among team members’ psychological entitlement (PE), counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB), team managers’ emotional exhaustion (EE) and abusive supervision (AS), and team cohesion (TC). Adopting a dyadic conceptual approach, Study 1 examined these relationships from the perspective of team managers, while Study 2 investigated them from the perspective of team members. Specifically, this study hypothesized that CWB mediates the relationships between PE and EE/TC (Study 1), and between PE and AS (Study 2). Findings The findings revealed that while manager-perceived PE positively correlated with CWB (Study 1), self-reported data showed a nonsignificant relationship (Study 2), highlighting the critical role of perspective. Crucially, CWB emerged as a significant mediator: it mediated the relationships between PE and team managers’ emotional exhaustion and team cohesion (Study 1), and between PE and team managers’ abusive supervision (Study 2). Interestingly, the direct impact of PE on emotional exhaustion and team cohesion was nonsignificant, suggesting CWB acts as the critical link. Practical implications The findings suggest that organizations should prioritize identifying and managing CWB, given its significant burden on team resources and dynamics. It is also crucial to address the root causes of managerial abusive supervision, recognizing it can stem from resource depletion and lack of support. Originality/value This study contributes by adopting a novel dyadic conceptual approach to examine psychological entitlement and its impact from both manager and member perspectives, grounded in COR theory. It highlights CWB as a critical mediator, explaining how team members’ entitlement influences managerial well-being and team dynamics, including the emergence of abusive supervision as a manager’s maladaptive coping mechanism.