The Relationship between Supervisor Feedback Environment and Voluntary Work Behavior

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that supervisor feedback environment has a positive effect on employees’ job attitudes and job performance. However, studies examining the relationship between supervisor feedback environment and employee deviant behavior are lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between supervisor feedback environment and employees’ voluntary work behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and workplace deviant behavior (WDB)) and examine the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX). We collected data from 258 subordinate-supervisor pairs at various organizations in Taiwan. To test our hypotheses, we conducted structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses. Results show that (1) supervisor feedback environment was positively related to OCB and negatively related to WDB; (2) LMX fully mediated the relationships between supervisor feedback environment and both OCB and WDB. Implications for the theory and practice of supervisor feedback environment and LMX are discussed, and future research directions are recommended.