Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative field study is to examine the relationship between perceived leader narcissism and employee proactive behavior, incorporating leader–member exchange (LMX) quality and leader identification as moderators. Within the social identity theory framework, implicit leadership and social categorization theories are used as the underpinning basis for our hypothesized three-way interaction moderation model. The research sample consisted of 90 groups (including 326 employees and 90 leaders) from different companies in China. Results indicate that there is a three-way interaction effect between perceived leader narcissism, LMX quality, and leader identification, which negatively influences employee proactive behavior. Specifically, when LMX quality and leader identification are both at a high level, the negative relationship between perceived leader narcissism and employee proactive behavior is most salient. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Highlights
Organizations are facing an ever-increasing speed in developments and expanded globalization, urging most employees to constantly monitor their competencies [1,2], and their performance and innovation at the workplace [3,4,5]
In Step 5, the three-way interaction term was added in the regression analysis, and the results showed that the three-way interaction of perceived leader narcissism, leader–member exchange (LMX), and employee leader identification appeared to have a significant negative effect on employee proactive behavior (b = −0.205, p < 0.01)
The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived leader narcissism and employee proactive behavior as well as the moderating roles of LMX quality and leader identification
Summary
Organizations are facing an ever-increasing speed in developments (e.g., new production concepts and new technology) and expanded globalization, urging most employees to constantly monitor their competencies [1,2], and their performance and innovation at the workplace [3,4,5]. At the contemporary labor market, it is not enough for employees to complete their assigned tasks. More and more, organizations are expected to align their staff members to leaders that empower their subordinates to display their own initiatives and efforts [6] in order ‘to stay in the race’ [7]. Nowadays, working organizations are increasingly dependent on employees portraying an ample amount of proactive behaviors in order to survive in today’s dynamic labor market characterized by the growing competition for organizational success [8]. Proactivity at the workplace has flourished in organizational research, over the past 20 years [10], and has shown positive effects regarding both individual-level (e.g., individual performance and job satisfaction [11,12]) and organizational-level outcomes (e.g., organizational performance and success [13,14])
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