The Moderating Role of Support Seeking versus Perceived Social Support in the Relationship between Customer Aggression and Job Outcomes

Customer aggression constitutes a major source of stress for service providers; however, empirical research regarding the moderating role of coping strategies in the customer aggression--job outcomes relationship is sparse. Two samples of service workers were recruited from northern Israel and data were collected using self-reported questionnaires. Study 1 investigated the moderating impact of support seeking and behavioral disengagement on this relationship. Results show that under conditions of excessively-aggressive behavior, more support seeking was associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Study 2 indicates that supervisor support moderated the customer aggression--work engagement relationship, such that the detrimental effect of customer aggression on work engagement was observed only among service workers with low levels of supervisor support.