A Moral, Self-regulatory Perspective on the Consequences of Maximum Downward Envy

The literature on downward envy mainly explores its consequences at the dyadic level, given the role of envy as a “call to action” that motivates leaders to reduce the gap between themselves and the envied employee. In this paper, we argue that downward envy can be a team-level phenomenon and that its outcomes are due to an out-of-control situation. Specifically, we posit that maximum downward envy triggers ego depletion in leaders, in turn causing them to engage in team-level abusive supervision. We further propose that these relationships are moderated by the leaders’ moral disengagement propensity. Our hypotheses are supported by results from an analysis of 53 leaders and 335 employees. Our findings thus advance the extant literature on downward envy and have important implications for practitioners in terms of managing envy and abusive supervision.