Leadership style and reward allocation: Does least preferred co-worker scale measure task and relation orientation?

Abstract

In a series of four experiments, low-LPC (Least Preferred Co-worker) and high-LPC subjects received information about job performance, a task variable, and attitude toward management, an interpersonal relation variable, of two members of work groups and distributed a fixed sum of money between them. Two interrelated analyses were performed, one concerning equity theory and the other concerning the meaning of the LPC scale. The assumption of input summation, which has been customary in equity theory, disagreed severely with the data. However, an alternative model based on an assumption of equity integration did remarkably well. The second analysis tested the prediction that low-LPC subjects place greater importance on performance but high-LPC subjects place greater importance on attitude in distribution of rewards. This prediction did not receive any support at all. Findings questioned Fiedler's claim that the LPC scale measures value for task or interpersonal success in group situations. Post hoc analyses disclosed that the high-LPC as compared to low-LPC subjects did better in obeying the precise prescriptions of the equity integration model. It was suggested, therefore, that the LPC scale may possibly be treated as a measure of cognitive complexity.