When Supervisors and Subordinates Match: Objective Value Congruence, Extremity, and Empowerment

Abstract

Although the topic of person-supervisor value congruence has attracted considerable research attention, evidence for the link between person-supervisor value congruence and subordinates’ reactions is less concrete than often assumed. This study addresses three central issues in our understanding of person-supervisor value congruence (a) by assessing the impact of objective rather than subjective value congruence, (b) by examining differential congruence effects of moderate versus extreme values, and (c) by exploring mediating processes. Results of a multi-source study comprising 116 person-supervisor dyads reveal that objective value congruence relates to subordinates’ job satisfaction and affective commitment and that this link can be explained by subordinates’ perceived empowerment. Moreover, polynomial regression and response surface analyses reveal that congruence effects vary with the importance that supervisors and subordinates ascribe to a certain value: congruency in extremely important or extremely unimportant values have stronger relations with subordinates’ outcomes than congruence in moderate values.