A STUDY OF COMMUNICATION AMONG SUPERVISORS: THE INFLUENCE OF SUPERVISOR/SUPERVISOR VERBAL AGGRESSIVENESS ON COMMUNICATION CLIMATE AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

A survey of 61 supervisors in a Detroit area auto manufacturing facility was utilized to tap supervisor/supervisor perceptions of verbal aggressiveness as related to organizational commitment and communication climate. The negative correlation between verbal aggressiveness and organizational commitment supports previous findings that verbal aggressiveness is a destructive form of communication with negative effects. In contrast, finding no correlation between verbal aggressiveness and communication climate does not support previous research that verbal aggressiveness has mostly negative effects. Characteristics of supervisors in manufacturing environments are discussed as well as the past research on verbal aggressiveness, organizational commitment, and communication climate.