Subordinates' perceptions of the need-supportive, need-thwarting, and need-indifferent behaviors used by their supervisors: A person-centered investigation

Abstract

Adopting a recent tripartite operationalization of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors, anchored in self-determination theory (SDT), this person-centered study considers the co-existence of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' need-supportive, need-thwarting, and need-indifferent behaviors. Moreover, we also consider how these various combinations (or profiles) of perceived supervisor behaviors relate to subordinates' levels of work motivation, well-being, attitudes, behaviors, and work–home functioning. A sample of 596 French employees (M_age = 31.22; 73.5% women) participated in this study. Our results revealed six profiles of subordinates characterized by distinct configurations of perceived need-related behaviors from supervisors (globally unfavorable, globally favorable and supportive, moderate-indifferent, moderately favorable and involved, moderately unfavorable, and moderately favorable). Consistent with our expectations, these profiles displayed well-differentiated patterns of associations with all of the outcomes considered in this study. These findings underscored the key role of subordinates' specific perceptions of need-supportive, need-thwarting, and need-indifferent behaviors, over and above their global perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors, in determining how beneficial or harmful supervisory profiles are. In particular, our results also highlighted the critical role played by need-indifferent behaviors, which prove to be a very important, and yet typically neglected, component of subordinates' perceptions of their supervisors' behaviors.