Why some workers might view a manager’s toxic behavior as tough love

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Social networks are full of testimonials from employees forced to work with toxic managers. The phenomenon is so widespread that it has become a subject of sociological research in recent years.

While many studies focus on the characteristics of abusive bosses, few examine the reasons why workers put up with this damaging form of authority.

Researchers at Ohio State University and Providence College studied the psychological mechanisms at work when dealing with a problematic manager. To do this, they first surveyed 576 US workers from a variety of industries. They asked them three times over a six-week period about the abusive behaviors of their hierarchical superior and the latter’s effectiveness at work.

Tough love

The researchers found that employees tend to minimize their manager’s abusive behavior when they consider their leader’s performance to be high. From their point of view, their superior’s excesses are the expression of a form of tough love, not maladaptive behavior.

On the other hand, workers are much more likely to identify their boss’s managerial excesses when they seem incompetent.

“If employees see their boss as a successful leader, that seems to be incompatible with being abusive. So they label the abuse as something more positive, like tough love,” says study lead author Robert Lount, quoted in a news release.

But what accounts for these differing interpretations? Optimism, it seems.

Indeed, employees with a high regard for their abusive manager are convinced that kindness will eventually win out over ruthlessness. They believe they will eventually be rewarded for their efforts, for example, with a promotion.

“These bosses may treat employees harshly, but presumably their intent is to help their followers realize their potential — that’s the tough love part. And if the leaders have high performance, that suggests they are successful at bringing out the skills of their followers,” says study coauthor Bennett Tepper.

When success masks abusive behavior

Since the first part of their study was based on statements, the scientists decided to conduct a laboratory experiment to support their reasoning.

They recruited 168 undergraduate students, who were led to believe that they were going to work in teams under the supervision of an MBA student to solve a problem. While they were working, the volunteers received a message supposedly sent by their team leader.

The message was written in such a way as to be either non-abusive (“Try hard!”) or more aggressive (“Don’t waste my time coming up with stupid ideas! Do better than a typical undergrad and don’t embarrass us!”)

Each team had to present its ideas to the team leader before they were examined by an independent expert. The researchers would then let the participants know whether they had done better or worse than their competitors. Whatever the result, the students were then asked to rate their supervisor.

Unsurprisingly, the students were less affected by their team leader’s abusive behavior when the researchers told them they had performed well on the exercise. Conversely, those who had underperformed were more likely to say they had been the victims of abusive management.

“We found that in a very short amount of time, you could quickly abate abusive labeling of a boss with high performance,” says Robert Lount.

The findings of this study show that employees can turn a blind eye to their superior’s toxic behavior if they think that the leader achieves high performance at work. This psychological phenomenon, which is in a sense similar to cognitive dissonance, could explain why toxic management is so insidious.

But it is no less harmful.

Employees who are exposed to it may experience symptoms similar to those associated with other forms of workplace harassment, such as sleep disorders, dark moods, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.