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Reports of Empirical Studies


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Parafoveal processing of word class information in Chinese reading LU Zijia, FU Ying, ZHANG Manman, ZANG Chuanli, BAI Xuejun 2022, 54 (5):  441-452.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00441 Abstract ( 4130 )   HTML ( 486 )   PDF (764KB) ( 5193 )   Peer Review Comments A controversial issue in eye movement research investigating reading concerns whether high-level information (e.g., syntactic category information) of parafoveal words can be obtained prior to fixation. Researchers have demonstrated that readers could stably extract syntactic category information from the parafoveal words during English reading, and such findings are in favor of parallel graded processing model (e.g., SWIFT model). Unlike English, Chinese are not rich in inflectional or derivational indicators to specify words’ syntactic properties. For example, there is no inflection with the verb 包装 (pack) no matter whether this action is going to happen or has already happened, nor whether this word is used as a verb or a noun. Therefore, parafoveal syntactic cues in Chinese may be limited relative to English, meaning that the extraction and use of such information when making syntactic commitments may be delayed. The present study was to explore whether parafoveal word class information could be extracted during Chinese reading. Using the boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975), we manipulated the syntactic category (word class) of preview words to form three conditions: identical preview, preview with the same word class as the target word, preview with the different word class as the target word. 120 college students participated in the experiment. Eye movements were recorded using an Eyelink 1000 eye-tracker, and the recorded results (reading time and fixation probability) are the dependent variables. Participants were asked to read 45 sentences and answered a multiple-choice comprehension question if any (about 30%). Although participants were only exposed to each target word once, all sentences appeared in all preview conditions across three counterbalanced lists. The results showed that readers spent similar duration when they fixed the target word regardless of whether the word class of the preview word in the parafovea was same as the target word or not, and there was no significant difference in fixation probability between them. Supplementary Bayesian analysis supported the null hypothesis. Moreover, all fixation durations were significantly shorter for the identical condition than for the other two previews, skipping rate was higher for identical condition, and regression probabilities were lower for identical condition. The findings in the present study suggest that it is difficult for Chinese readers to extract high-level syntactic category information from parafoveal words. Our results provide support for the sequential attention shift model (e.g., E-Z reader model), which in favor of that high-level information processing occurs in the integration stage (I). The results provide evidence for improving computational models of eye movements about how to process lexical high-level information during reading. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of stimulus onset asynchrony on semantic effect in spoken word production: A picture-word interference paradigm study ZHOU Yuxi, LIU Yuhao, ZHANG Qingfang 2022, 54 (5):  453-465.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00453 Abstract ( 2320 )   HTML ( 323 )   PDF (1287KB) ( 3096 )   Peer Review Comments A controversial in word production is that how speakers retrieve words from the mental lexicon. The picture-word interference (hereafter PWI) paradigm has been broadly used to investigate this issue. In this task, speakers are instructed to name pictures while ignoring written distractor words superimposed onto the pictures. A typical finding is the semantic interference effect, which is that categorically related distractors (e.g., bus) slow down picture naming (e.g., car) relative to unrelated distractors (e.g., pen). By varying stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between pictures and distractors, studies have reported semantic facilitation effect when semantically related distractors were presented before pictures such as 400 ms (-400 ms), and semantic interference effect when semantically related distractors were presented closely to pictures. Lexical competition hypothesis assumes that semantic interference reflects the lexical selection competition among co-activated semantically related lexical representations during lemma retrieval, while response exclusion hypothesis assumes that semantically related distractors are more difficult to exclude from the response buffer than unrelated ones. It assumes that semantic facilitation effect arises at the conceptual processing. However, little is known about the temporal courses of both effects. The present study aims to examine the influence of SOA on semantic effect with the PWI task using electrophysiological measures. Forty-five undergraduate and graduate students participate in the experiment (22 males, average 22.85 years). Forty-two black and white line pictures were chosen from a standardized picture database as targets with disyllabic names. Each target picture was paired with a semantically related distractor word and an unrelated distractor word. Context words in the semantically related condition were then recombined with the picture names to form unrelated conditions. Target pictures and context words are basic-level concepts selected from 14 semantic categories. The experimental design included relatedness (semantically related vs. semantically unrelated), SOA (-400 vs. 0 ms) and repetition (first vs. second) as within-participants factors. Behavioral results indicated a typical semantic interference effect at SOA of 0 ms while the semantic effect was absent at SOA of -400 ms. Electrophysiological results showed that at SOA of 0 ms semantically related distractors elicited a smaller modulated waveform than unrelated ones in the time window of 344~414 ms in the first repetition and 356~418 ms in the second repetition. There was a larger waveform in the semantically related distractors than unrelated ones in the time window of 462~594 ms in the first repetition and 460~544 ms in the second repetition. At SOA of -400 ms, results showed an early semantic effect in the time window of 0~76 ms in the first repetition but disappeared in the second repetition, and a late semantic effect in the time window of 284~390 ms in the first repetition and 274~382 ms in the second repetition. In sum, the present findings indicated that there is a semantic facilitation effect arising at the conceptual processing (0~200 ms) and a semantic interference effect arising at the lexical selection stage (250~450 ms) in Chinese spoken word production. Our findings firstly provide evidence for lexical competition hypothesis rather than response exclusion hypothesis. Furthermore, with high-time resolution measures, we firstly provide electrophysiological evidence for the trade-off of semantic facilitation and interference effect in spoken word production. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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An effect of menstrual cycle phase on episodic memory LI Jianhua, XIE Jiajia, ZHUANG Jin-Ying 2022, 54 (5):  466-480.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00466 Abstract ( 7890 )   HTML ( 928 )   PDF (6306KB) ( 12124 )   Peer Review Comments Episodic memory refers to the recollection of personally experienced events in a specific context. Evolutionary psychology findings have suggested that female sex hormones may be important influencing factors for episodic memory, but the specific mechanism underlying these influences are unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine whether periodic fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone over the menstrual cycle may influence episodic memory in the What-Where-When Task. Healthy women with stable menstrual cycles and not taking exogenous hormones were recruited for two experiments. In Experiment 1, episodic memory was tested with 33 women during the late follicular phase (FP) and during the mid-luteal phase (LP) with the following five tasks employing images of objects as stimuli: object-only, position-only, object-position binding, object-order binding, and position-order binding. The testing order was counter-balanced across subjects. After a learning phase, participants were asked to recollect elements according to the requirements of each task, and the accuracy rates of their recollections were recorded as dependent variables. The results of Experiment 1 showed that recollection accuracy differed between the late FP and mid-LP for only one of the tasks, namely the position-order binding task. Thus, in Experiment 2, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the performance of the position-order binding task, while recollection accuracy performance was evaluated. For the position-order binding task in both experiments, a significantly higher response accuracy rate was observed in the mid-LP than in the late FP. Regarding the ERP results, amplitudes of the P300 component and the late positive component (LPC) in frontal cortices, which has associated with cognitive control, were found to be higher in the mid-LP than in the late FP. The present results support the notion that people may have greater cognitive control of episodic memory in the mid-LP than in the late FP. In conclusion, the present results showed that menstrual cycle phase affects position-order binding memory performance and concomitant neural activities. Better episodic memory performance during the mid-LP, relative to the late FP, could be attributed to better cognitive control ability. This study provides new information on physiological factors that can affect episodic memory. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The impact of feedback on self-deception: Evidence from ERP FAN Wei, REN Mengmeng, ZHANG Wenjie, ZHONG Yiping 2022, 54 (5):  481-496.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00481 Abstract ( 2635 )   HTML ( 505 )   PDF (3853KB) ( 2513 )   Self-deception is a motivation to see the world in a way that benefits oneself. Previously, researchers have explored self-deception from a single research perspective. The focus on singular variables have made it impossible to understand an individual’s processing of self-deception from a holistic perspective. Researchers of self-deception not only need to seek stable research results but also need to continuously adopt a more comprehensive research perspective to explore self-deception. This study mainly explored the influence of feedback types and feedback valence on self-deception. Experiment 1 used the forward-looking paradigm to explore the influence of fuzzy feedback with differing valences on self-deception. The scores (measures of self-deception) in the first stage of test 2 in the answer prompt group and the no-answer prompt group were significantly different. The prediction scores in the second stage of test 2 were also significantly different, and compared with the participants in the no-answer prompt group, the participants in the answer prompt group increased their prediction scores in the second stage of test 2 under conditions involving positive fuzzy feedback. Experiment 2 explored the impact of precise feedback with differing valences on self-deception. The scores for the two groups of participants in the first stage of test 2 were significantly different. Compared with the no-answer prompt group, the answer prompt group received accurate feedback; however, these conditions did not produce higher prediction scores in the second stage of test 2. Experiment 3 used ERP technology to explore the internal mechanisms related to different types of feedback and the feedback valence that had differential effects on self-deception. The participants engaged in more self-deception in conditions with fuzzy feedback; self-deception in conditions with fuzzy feedback induced a larger P2 component and induced smaller N1 and N400 components. Finally, it was found that the frontal area had the greatest effects on self-deception. In short, the results of this research showed that positive feedback promoted the generation of individuals' self-deception, while negative feedback weakened the generation of individuals' self-deception; positive fuzzy feedback further promoted the generation of individuals' self-deception. The results of this research also indicated that the mechanism underlying self-deception may be self-inflation. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The impact of individualism on the efficiency of epidemic control and the underlying computational and psychological mechanisms HUANG Liqin, SUN Yin, LUO Siyang 2022, 54 (5):  497-515.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00497 Abstract ( 4336 )   HTML ( 554 )   PDF (12030KB) ( 6603 )   Peer Review Comments Ecology can shape the formation of a particular culture through individual natural adaptive behavior. In different cultures, culturally contextualized behavior can also modify the environment. In the present ecological environment, the spread of COVID-19 represents a global public health crisis. However, some nations appear to be more effective at limiting the spread of the virus and decreasing mortality rates. The purpose of this study was to explore cross-cultural differences in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby substantiating the influence of culture on the ecological natural environment. We hypothesized that an independent society-oriented culture was not conducive to a successful pandemic response. Study 1 explored the correlation between individualism and the total number of deaths, deaths per million, and morality rates in 73 countries. In Study 2, we further modeled the cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 over time in 31 provinces in China, using a logistical model to obtain indicators of efficiency of epidemic control, and we explored the relationship between independent self-construal and the speed of pandemic control. In Study 3, we simulated the pandemic process through agent-based modeling (ABM), which verified the influence of individualism and determined how government norms regulated the controlling speed of the pandemic. Based on ABM in Study 3, in Study 4, we used a hierarchical linear model to further explore how culture influenced escape behavior, which violated government regulations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with, and then we tested the mediating role of fear of death. In Study 1, individualism scores were positively correlated with cumulative COVID-19 deaths, cumulative deaths per million, and mortality. In Study 2, independent self-construal was negatively correlated with the controlling speed in the early stage of the pandemic in China. However, there was no significant relationship between interdependent self-construal and COVID-19 pandemic control speed. Study 3 simulated the process of the pandemic through an agent-based model and found that individualism was positively correlated with the number of confirmed cases and deaths and was negatively correlated with the speed of the early controlling stage, which was regulated by government norms. In Study 4, we found that individualism can increase the degree of escape behavior when individuals are facing the COVID-19 pandemic. This process was mediated by fear of death. This paper revealed the influence of culture on the ecological environment from the perspective of pathogen prevalence, thereby verifying the nature-behavior-culture coevolution model. It also provides important predictors for countries to respond to the global public health crisis. In a more complex dynamic interaction network combining nature, culture, behavior, brain and genes, culture interacts with other factors and may help to explain ecological changes in history, as well as the course of human history, social development and human behaviors. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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“Attraction of the like”: How does coworker proactive behavior stimulate employees’ motivation and job performance? ZHANG Ying, DUAN Jinyun, WANG Fuxi, QU Jinzhao, PENG Xiongliang 2022, 54 (5):  516-527.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00516 Abstract ( 4505 )   HTML ( 552 )   PDF (785KB) ( 5805 )   Peer Review Comments In the current age, employees are expected to work proactively in workplaces where the organizational structure is flatter and knowledge updating becomes faster than ever. There is a growing consensus on the importance of proactive behaviors from both scholars and practitioners. Proactive behavior, defined as “an anticipatory action that employees take to impact themselves and/or their environments” is thought to be self-initiated, future-oriented and change-oriented. Evidence showed that employees’ proactive behavior is beneficial for both individual performance and organizational competitiveness. Existing research regarding the impacts of proactive behavior mainly focuses on effectiveness of employees’ own proactive behaviors, such as promoting their job satisfaction or organizational commitment. However, no one is an isolated island. In a team or an organizational environment, employees’ attitudes and behaviors will inevitably be affected by their coworkers. Accordingly, this study focused on coworker proactive behavior and discussed its effectiveness in stimulating employees’ job performance. Drawing upon social learning theory, we hypothesized employee autonomous motivation will mediate the relationship between coworker proactive behavior and employee job performance. We further assumed that whether an employee possesses highly proactive personality determines the odds that employees might be motivated by their proactive coworkers. These hypotheses were tested with a field sample of supervisor-employee dyads and an experimental study. For the field study, we conducted a three-wave research design and achieved 209 valid samples from employees and their supervisors in two high-tech enterprises based in Beijing and Hebei provinces. At Time 1, employees assessed their proactive personality and their coworkers’ proactive behavior, and provided their demographic information. At Time 2 (one month after Time 1), employees were asked to report their autonomous motivation. At Time 3 (two months after Time 1), supervisors provided performance evaluation of employees who engaged in the survey. For the experimental study, we recruited 86 full-time workers from a high-tech company located in Hebei province via its internal communication channel. These respondents were separated into two groups randomly, namely coworkers with high proactive behaviors (N = 74) and coworkers with low proactive behaviors (N = 76). First, respondents were asked to finish a measure of their proactive personality and report their demographics. Then, they were given a scenario, one of which depicted a situation where coworkers were proactive (or not proactive). Finally, after reading the scenario, respondents finished a manipulation check of coworker proactive behavior and reported the degree of their autonomous motivation. We applied confirmatory factor analysis, regression analysis and mixed model via SPSS 23 and Mplus 7.4 to analyze the data. Empirical results supported our hypotheses and indicated the following: (1) Coworker proactive behavior had a significant positive effect on employee autonomous motivation; (2) Employee autonomous motivation played a mediating role in the relationship between coworker proactive behavior and employee job performance; (3) Employee proactive personality played a moderating role in the relationship between coworker proactive behavior and employee autonomous motivation, such that coworker proactive behavior was positively related employee autonomous motivation when employees’ proactive personality was high, while such relationship became negative when employees’ proactive personality was low. This study makes several theoretical and managerial implications. First, by investigating the effectiveness of coworker proactive behavior, this study offers a new insight in proactive behavior research by incorporating the influence of coworker into consideration. Second, by examining the mediating role of employee autonomous motivation, this study enhances our understanding of how coworker proactive behavior translates into employee job performance. Third, by exploring the contingent role of employee proactive personality, this study shows the boundary condition under which employees are more likely to be motivated by their proactive coworkers. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The double-edged sword of employee authenticity in coworker interactions: The moderating role of relationship duration TANG Yipeng, JIA Rongwen, LONG Lirong, REN Zhiyu, PU Xiaoping 2022, 54 (5):  529-548.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00529 Abstract ( 3338 )   HTML ( 582 )   PDF (990KB) ( 3278 )   There has been an upsurge of both public and academic interest in authenticity at work. The key assumption in the burgeoning literature is that authenticity helps engender trust and decrease suspicion, thus drawing people closer to each other. In this study, however, we argued that employee authenticity can exert both positive and negative influences on coworker relationships. Using interpersonal help and interpersonal exclusion to represent positive and negative coworker interactions, respectively, we postulated that employee authenticity induces both coworkers’ helping and exclusionary behaviors toward the focal employees. Building on social penetration theory and the literature of attributional ambiguity, we proposed suspicion of ulterior motives and knowledge- based trust to be the theoretical mechanisms explaining coworkers’ behavioral responses to employee authenticity. Further, we suggested that coworkers’ behavioral responses to employee authenticity depend largely on the coworker relationship duration. Specifically, when relationships are new, employee authenticity may cause coworkers to mistrust the focal employees and be suspicious of their ulterior motives, thus decreasing coworkers’ helping behavior and increasing exclusionary behavior. Conversely, when coworkers have worked together for a long time, employee authenticity may increase coworkers’ trust in the focal employees and decrease suspicion, thus facilitating helping behavior and reducing exclusionary behavior. We conducted two independent studies to examine the hypothesized effects. First, a two-wave round-robin survey study was conducted to test the mediating role of suspicion of ulterior motives in the relationship between employee authenticity and coworkers’ behavioral responses. In the round-robin design, the team members rated each of their teammates, thus capturing the dyadic interactions between the focal employees and coworkers. We collected data from 299 members of 63 work teams in a large company. The final sample consisted of 1027 dyads. To alleviate the effects of common method bias, we used multiple data sources to measure our variables. Employee authenticity and suspicion of ulterior motives were assessed using self-reports at Time 1. Interpersonal helping behavior was measured using other-rating and exclusionary behavior with self-reports at Time 2. Coworker relationship duration was measured at both times. In Study 2, an experimental study was conducted to test the full model. Employee authenticity and the coworker relationship duration were manipulated. Specifically, the critical incident technique was used to identify the focal employees whose authenticity was high or low and whose relationship duration with the participants was long or short. The participants served as coworkers and were asked to answer questions about the focal employees. The measures used were adapted from Study 1. In support of the theoretical model, the results showed that the coworker relationship duration moderated the effect of employee authenticity on coworkers’ suspicion of ulterior motives and knowledge-based trust. Employee authenticity was related positively to suspicion and negatively to trust when the relationship duration was short, and related negatively to suspicion and positively to trust when the relationship duration was long. Further, suspicion of ulterior motives was related to interpersonal exclusionary behavior, and knowledge-based trust to interpersonal helping behavior. This research advances the existing understanding of authenticity in three aspects. First, research on coworker relationships has focused largely on social exchange and similarity attraction theories and suggested that employee authenticity facilitates positive coworker interactions. Our study departs from the main perspectives and builds on social penetration theory to propose that time is required for authenticity to exert its positive influence on coworker interaction. Second, our study contributes to social penetration theory in general. This theory was proposed and has been used mainly to explicate how self-disclosure in communication advances interpersonal relationships. This research uses the theory to understand whether and how the action of manifesting one’s inner true self (employee authenticity) affects coworker interactions. Third, this study helps reconcile the inconsistent findings regarding how coworkers react to employee authenticity by stressing the moderating role of the coworker relationship duration. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The effects of leader power and status on employees’ voice behavior: The role of psychological safety RONG Yan, SUI Yang, JIANG Jing 2022, 54 (5):  549-565.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00549 Abstract ( 3492 )   HTML ( 457 )   PDF (900KB) ( 4886 )   Peer Review Comments The impact of a leader’s hierarchical position on employees’ voice behaviors is both practically and theoretically important. Prior research found that hierarchical differences hinder upward communication and information sharing. Indeed, the hierarchical position is constructed on different bases. For example, power (i.e., the control over valuable resources) and status (i.e., the respect and esteem that a leader holds in the eyes of others) are two different bases of hierarchy, and they are found to have distinct effects on an individual’s behaviors and perceptions. Therefore, employees’ voice decisions may vary when the leader has high power or high status. However, prior research has not distinguished those different hierarchical bases (i.e., power and status) when investigating the effect of a leader’s hierarchical rank on employees’ voice behaviors. Moreover, the interactive relationship between power and status has not been explored in the voice context, although researchers have identified that the power effect often depends on status. We suggest that leader power and status have distinct effects on employees’ voice behavior and psychological safety. We also expect the effect of leader power on employee’s voice behavior to be moderated by leader status and that the moderating effect may be transferred indirectly through employees’ psychological safety. By taking a multimethod approach, we tested our hypotheses in two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) and a field survey (Study 3). In Study 1, we conducted a 2 (leader power: high vs. low) × 2 (leader status: high vs. low) between-subjects design and recruited 163 full-time employees from Prolific. By using a scenario-based experiment, we aimed to test the main effects of leader power and status on employees’ voice behaviors, as well as the moderating effect of leader status. In Study 2, we conducted a 2 (leader power: high vs. low) × 2 (leader status: high vs. low) between-subjects design and recruited 189 full-time employees from Prolific. In this study, we asked participants to identify a target leader who had either high or low power and either high or low status. After that, they indicated how many suggestions or concerns they would bring up to this leader in a real meeting and reported the perceived psychological safety in that situation. In Study 3, we collected data from a large company in South China. The final sample consists of 346 employees matched with their 111 immediate supervisors. Employees evaluated their supervisor’s power and status at T1 and reported their psychological safety at T2; supervisors reported employee voice behaviors at T2. In Study 1, we found a negative effect of leader power on employees’ voice behaviors. In addition, we found that the effect of leader power on employees’ voice behavior was contingent on leader status. That is, when a leader has high status, the negative effect of leader power on employee voice behavior was not significant; when a leader has low status, the negative effect was stronger. Study 2 supported the main effect of leader power and status on employees’ voice behaviors, as well as the moderating effect of leader status. In addition, Study 2 provided evidence of the mediating role of psychological safety that links the interaction of leader power and status with employees’ voice behaviors. Finally, Study 3 replicated the main effect of leader power and status on employees' voice behavior, the moderating effect of status on the link between leader power and employees’ voice behavior, and the mediating effect of psychological safety. The results from two experiments and one field study ensured high internal and external validity. Our study contributes to the literature in several aspects. First, we distinguished the effect of leader power and status on employees’ voice behaviors and psychological safety. We also found that the effect of leader power on employees’ voice behavior depends on leader status. This finding provided more nuanced evidence regarding how hierarchical differentiation influences upward voice. Second, although researchers have identified leader power as an influential predictor of employees’ voice behavior, the findings are mixed. We demonstrated that the impact of leader power is contingent on leader status. This finding helps reconcile the debate on leader power. Third, researchers have focused more attention on how leaders influence employees through hard power than on the influence of soft status. Our results show that dominance (i.e., power) and prestige (i.e., status) are both important sources of influence in organizations. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Mindfulness and trust: How to prevent the compensatory abusive behaviors of the low-status supervisors? MA Jun, ZHANG Rui 2022, 54 (5):  566-581.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00566 Abstract ( 3376 )   HTML ( 310 )   PDF (1031KB) ( 4148 )   Peer Review Comments The parallel system of position and rank enlarges the separation of power and status within the organization. In particular, a large number of green hand were promoted to leadership positions, and the disadvantages brought by the separation of power and status became prominent. The high position (power) but lack of corresponding prestige (status), which largely limits the leader’s voice and control in the work, also endangers the leader's sense of control and self-worth. Therefore, exploring the abusive supervision and its intervention mechanism has profound theoretical and practical value when matching the leaders' status with their power is difficult. To address this gap, the current study aims to explore the mediating effect of leaders' ego-depletion as well as the moderating effect of leaders’ mindfulness and trust from senior managers. This study aims to explore the reasons why low-status leaders adopt abusive supervision and how to prevent this negative leadership style. Based on the three attributes of low-status compensation theory, this paper constructs a two-stage moderated mediation model and designs two studies. In Study 1, a total of 373 valid participants were collected from 58 departments, and polynomial regression and response surface methodology were used to examine the effect of leaders’ power and status mismatch (power is lower than status, power is higher than status) on abusive supervision. Study 2 aims to further explore the mechanism and interventions that lead to abusive supervision when leaders have more power than their status. In Study 2, 61 samples were collected by the department as a unit. Regression analysis, Bootstrap method, and Johnson-Neyman (J-N) technology were used to examine the moderated mediation effects of two-stage moderated mediation model. The analyses of the two studies showed that (1) leaders with inconsistent hierarchies are more inclined to implement abusive supervision than those with consistent hierarchies, (2) ego-depletion is deemed a significant operation mechanism for supervisors to realize the transformation of abusive supervision in the context of the inferiority of their status to their power, and (3) the combination of supervisors' mindfulness and trust from senior managers can jointly effectively moderate the effect caused by status which is inferior to their power on abusive supervision through ego-depletion, indicating that they are crucial mechanisms for preventing hierarchical inconsistency leading to compensatory abusive supervision. The research has the following theoretical contributions. First of all, this paper deepened the research on the pre-causes of abusive supervision, indicating that the latter is not only a manifestation of leaders' abuse of power but may also be caused by the lack of status. Second, this paper reveals the mechanism and intervention mechanism of abusive supervision by low-status leaders. Third, this paper extends the low-status compensation theory from social fields (e.g., school shooting, terrorism, murder, and other "hot" violent behaviors) to the workplace. This study also provides management implications for preventing the conflict caused by the separation of power and status. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics