The Effect of Leader-Member Exchange Differentiation Within Work Units on Coworker Exchange and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

Abstract

The concept of leader-member exchange (LMX) is predicated on the notion that leaders have differing quality relationships with each subordinate, leading to the formation of an ingroup and an outgroup. This suggests that for a sophisticated understanding of the impact of LMX relationships on individuals’ sentiments and behaviors, followers’ perceptions of the collective set of workgroup LMX relationships may be as important as their individual LMX relationships. This research examines employee perceptions of LMX across 67 work units, and investigates how these perceptions relate to coworker exchange (CWX) relationships and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Results indicate that CWX is strongly, positively related to the LMX of the participant and their colleagues. A significant, positive relationship between measures of CWX and OCBs directed toward the work unit, but not the organization, was also observed.