Tit-for-Tat! Does negative reciprocity mitigate supervisors' abusive behaviors on hotel employee outcomes?

Underpinned by emotional processing, social exchange, and conservation of resources theories, this study highlights the linkage of abusive supervision (ASV) with fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and psychological distress (PDS) in the hotel setting. This paper also investigates negative reciprocity (NRC), which has both mediation and moderation effects. Using a survey questionnaire, 412 employees were approached at 15 five-star hotels in Aswan and Luxor (Egypt). The results indicated that ASV and FNE positively affected PDS. Furthermore, the results revealed that negative reciprocity partially mediated the ASV-PDS relationship. Moreover, NRC mitigated the positive effects of ASV and FNE on PDS. Lastly, this paper also provides academics and practitioners in the hotel industry with meaningful theoretical and practical originality.