A Research on the Priming Mechanism of Workplace Loneliness from the Perspective of LMX Social Comparison

Abstract

In organizations, leaders and subordinates often have different qualities of LMX, which is more common and salient, especially in Chinese collectivist and relationship-oriented culture. Employees with high LMX are easy to get more resources and support, while those with low LMX tend to get the opposite. At the same time, employees will compare their LMX to that of their colleagues and thus form a perception of relative LMX（called LMXSC）, which tends to have a greater impact on employees’ psychology and behavior than absolute LMX quality. Given this understanding, this paper attempts to reveal the process and mechanism of the impact of LMXSC on employees’ workplace loneliness. Combined with the social comparison theory and the relative deprivation theory, we propose a research model of LMXSC, competitive climate, relative deprivation and workplace loneliness, and construct the hypothesis based on the model.We collected data in two time points. Through the analysis of 689 valid samples, it is found that LMXSC has a significant negative effect on workplace loneliness directly; at the same time, LMXSC induces workplace loneliness indirectly by influencing individuals’ relative deprivation. When the competitive climate of departments or teams is higher, LMXSC will have a stronger impact on workplace loneliness through relative deprivation.This paper has three theoretical contributions: Firstly, we introduce a new theoretical perspective on the study of the trigger mechanism of workplace loneliness. From the perspective of social comparison, we confirm that not only the absolute quality of social relations（LMX）affects individual workplace loneliness, but also relative social relationship quality（LMXSC）is an important inducement to workplace loneliness. Secondly, this paper reveals a new mechanism of workplace loneliness inducing process. From the perspective of relative deprivation, it reveals the process mechanism of LMXSC on workplace loneliness. Thirdly, the boundary conditions for the impact of LMXSC on employees’ negative feelings are extended. In a highly competitive climate, LMXSC will have a stronger inhibitory effect on workplace loneliness.These findings remind organizational leaders that while optimizing the allocation of relationship resources, they should be aware of the possible adverse effects of LMXSC, and actively take measures to improve employee relations within the organization. Firstly, leaders in a team or department should try to treat subordinates in a fairer way, to leave employees with the impression that all team members have similar relationships with the leader. This measure can reduce the experience of relative disadvantages after comparing among coworkers. Secondly, on the premise of not hurting other employees, leaders should try their best to meet the emotional and relational needs of the most important core employees in the organization, to prevent these employees from feeling lonely in the workplace to the greatest extent. Thirdly, leaders should take various measures to build an environment of friendship, mutual support and win-win cooperation.