"Who Do You Care More About, Boss or Subordinate? Exchange Quality and Performance Appraisal"

Abstract

Based on the role theory, the current study investigated the influence of supervisor’s exchange quality with his/her boss and subordinate on performance appraisal, as well as the moderating effect of supervisor extroversion and agreeableness. Analyses based on a sample of 167 supervisors and their corresponding bosses, peers and subordinates demonstrated that (1) To predict the task/contextual/adaptive performance of a supervisor rated by his/her boss, leader-leader exchange (LLX) is more important than leader-member exchange (LMX); (2) To predict the task/contextual performance of a supervisor rated by his/her peer, LLX has similar predicting power as LMX; (3) To predict the adaptive performance of a supervisor rated by his/her peer, LMX is more important than LLX; (4) Agreeableness negatively moderates: the relationship between LLX and task /contextual performance rated by boss; the relationship between LLX/LMX and task /contextual/adaptive performance rated by peer. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research were also discussed.