There’s a Psychological Reason Why Your Boss Yells at You, Say Scientists [Video]

Ever felt like your boss gets a kick out of yelling at you? New research has shown that bosses may satisfy an “emotional need” and reap psychological “benefits” from yelling at their employees to boost performance and reinforce their status as the boss.

The new study by the University of Georgia (UGA), published this month in the Journal of Management, suggests that these abusive behaviors “provide a temporary sense of fulfilment,” the researchers said.

The study found that “supervisors’ daily motives for abusive behaviors matter, given that certain motives actually yield short-term benefits for supervisors.”

Previous research on “bad bosses” has centered around those who snap at workers due to stress or exhaustion but not those who actively choose to engage in abusive behavior.

Current research assumes that bosses “feel bad after engaging in abusive behaviors,” the scientists note. However, the team said, “we challenge this assumption by proposing that supervisors’ motives of abusive supervision shape their post-abuse experiences.”