Leader–Member Exchange Level and Differentiation: The Roles of Interpersonal Justice Climate and Group Affective Tone

Abstract

We examined the effect of leader–member exchange (LMX) level and differentiation on interpersonal justice climate and positive group affective tone. We proposed a moderated mediation model with interpersonal justice climate as a mediator and team-level LMX differentiation as a moderator. The study sample comprised 333 employees in 73 teams from 14 South Korean companies. Results showed that LMX level was positively associated with positive group affective tone and that interpersonal justice climate partially mediated this relationship. Team-level LMX differentiation moderated the mediation effect, such that high LMX differentiation within a team negatively affected interpersonal justice climate, thus weakening the positive effect of LMX level on positive group affective tone. This suggests that LMX differentiation influences positive group affective tone, meaning it may be advisable for the quality of this relationship to be differentiated only when there is a low level of support and trust between the team leader and members.