Abstract
Since the relationship between leaders and subordinates has important implications for organizations, exploring how high-quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships develop over time is a critical research objective. However, LMX research has essentially focused on leader-centric approaches to describe how leaders develop differential relationships with subordinates and has devoted little attention to the influence of subordinate characteristics. This study contends that subordinates’ individual differences may act as drivers of LMX relationships. Specifically, we posited that individuals with an internal work locus of control, owing to their sense of control over the work environment, are more prone to develop high LMX relationships over time. Moreover, we expected this effect to be enhanced when these individuals are given clear expectations about their work role because such conditions would ease their sense of agency. Further, we suggested that these effects may partly depend on the dimension of LMX (i.e., affect, loyalty, contribution, and professional respect) under consideration. We argued that the effect of internal work locus of control would generalize to all LMX dimensions but that its interaction with role clarity would primarily impact the loyalty and contribution dimensions of LMX as their behavioral orientation would result in valued outcomes for internals. Data were collected through questionnaires among a sample of 424 employees working in various industries. Through a two-wave study and controlling for the autoregressive effects of LMX, subordinates’ internal work locus of control was found to enhance LMX relationships over time. Using a multidimensional approach to LMX, our results further show that the effect of internal work locus of control generalized to all dimensions of LMX. Using a contextualized view of the development of LMX, we also found that role clarity moderated the positive relationship between internal work locus of control and LMX over time such that the relationship was stronger when role clarity was high. However, from a dimensional perspective, role clarity only accentuated the relationship between work locus of control and LMX’s loyalty dimension. The implications of these findings for LMX research are discussed.
Highlights
The leader–member exchange (LMX) theory stipulates that supervisors engage in relationships of distinct quality with subordinates depending on how interactions develop within each employee–supervisor dyad (Graen and Scandura, 1987; Liden et al, 1993; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995)
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) through Mplus 7.31 (Muthén and Muthén, 2010) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation was used to examine the dimensionality of our constructs
Based on a two-wave design that controlled for the autoregressive effects of overall LMX or its dimensions, this study demonstrates that subordinates with an internal work locus of control develop social relationships of a higher quality with their supervisor over time
Summary
The leader–member exchange (LMX) theory stipulates that supervisors engage in relationships of distinct quality with subordinates depending on how interactions develop within each employee–supervisor dyad (Graen and Scandura, 1987; Liden et al, 1993; Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). High-quality LMX is characterized by social exchange relationships that give way to mutual trust, commitment, reciprocity, and loyalty among members of the dyad. In these situations, subordinates receive resources, rewards, and challenging job assignments that help them develop and be efficient in their work role (Liden et al, 1997). There has been abundant research showing that high-quality LMX is associated with a host of positive outcomes including heightened organizational commitment, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors (e.g., Gerstner and Day, 1997; Anand et al, 2011; Dulebohn et al, 2012; Rockstuhl et al, 2012; Martin et al, 2016)
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