Leader-member Exchange Relationships Research Articles

Leader-member exchange differentiation and followers’ psychological strain: exploring relations on the individual and on the team-level

AbstractDue to social comparison in the team, leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation has been shown to play a crucial role for explaining follower outcomes. LMX differentiation may be beneficial for some followers, but also detrimental for others, when perceived as unfair. In order to understand the impact of LMX differentiation on work-related outcomes, LMX differentiation should be described by three properties (relative LMX position, LMX variability, and team-level LMX). The aim of the study is to focus on LMX differentiation and test relationships between different properties of LMX and followers’ psychological strain. In sum, 75 teams with 322 followers answered an online survey about their leaders’ LMX and their individual levels of psychological strain. Results of multilevel modeling showed that the relative LMX position was negatively related to psychological strain on the individual level. This relation was moderated by LMX variability and team-level LMX. However, we did not find significant relations between team-level LMX and team-level psychological strain. The present study extends previous research by looking at relations between LMX and psychological strain on an individual follower level as well as on the team level. Our results suggest that the relative position of LMX within a team seems to play a crucial role for individual follower psychological strain. Results imply that leaders should aim to improve LMX relationships within their team and to reduce differences between team members. Leadership trainings should impart knowledge and skills to improve LMX quality and include elements about LMX differentiation, its origins, as well as consequences.

The Impact of Perceived Overqualification on Time Banditry Behavior from the Perspective of LMX

Time banditry behavior is a negative extra-normative behavior, which has a negative impact on employee and organizational performance. However, it is easy to be ignored because of its strong concealment. In view of this, based on the equity theory, this study explores the influence mechanism of perceived overqualification on time banditry behavior. The results of a two-stage questionnaire survey of 430 employees show that the perceived overqualification positively affects employees' time banditry behavior; the perception of leader-member exchange relationship plays a partial mediating role in the process of perceived overqualification affecting time banditry behavior. Organizational chaxu climate positively moderates the mediating effect of leader-member exchange relationship perception.

Do intelligent leaders differentiate exchange relationships intelligently? A functional leadership approach to leader-member exchange differentiation.

The burgeoning literature on leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation indicates that differentiating LMX relationships within groups has both benefits and costs when it comes to group effectiveness. Although some clarity is emerging surrounding the null total effect of LMX differentiation on group performance, we still know little about how leaders themselves shape the differentiation process. In this article, we extend theory to suggest that some leaders may differentiate more effectively than others. Drawing from functional leadership theory, we first identify a potential approach available to leaders likely to enhance their functional effectiveness-strategically investing in and developing stronger social exchange relationships with subordinates who can best help them fulfill the task functions (via task performance-based differentiation) and group maintenance functions (via contextual performance-based differentiation) specified within functional leadership theory. Embedding this potential approach within the ability-motivation-opportunity framework, we then develop a theory for which leaders are best positioned to recognize and pursue strategic relationship development this way. Specifically, we posit that leaders with stronger cognitive abilities (g) are more likely to recognize the value of such an approach, and those high in core self-evaluation are more likely to believe in their capabilities to successfully process, execute on, and persist with the approach. The results from two studies-a multisource study of leaders and team members in newly formed teams as well as a preregistered online vignette study using a sample of current and former supervisors-largely supported our predictions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A meta-analytic review of family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSBs): Work-family related antecedents, outcomes, and a theory-driven comparison of two mediating mechanisms

This quantitative review systematically integrates the antecedents and outcomes of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSBs) through bivariate meta-analysis and meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). Utilizing data from 231 primary studies, which are drawn from 213 sources (N = 118, 100), we examined a set of hypotheses exploring the antecedents and consequences of FSSBs. We also conducted a comparative analysis of the explanatory power of two theoretical perspectives: the resource-based view (operationalized as work-family conflict and work-family enrichment) and the social-exchange perspective (operationalized as leader-member exchange relationship). Our results showed that the social-exchange perspective accounted for a greater proportion of FSSBs' impacts on work outcomes (i.e., in-role performance, and job satisfaction), while the resource-based perspective predominantly elucidates FSSBs' influence on employee wellbeing (i.e., burnout). In doing this, we unveiled nuanced insights into the nomological network surrounding FSSBs. Based on these results, we develop a future map for this growing body of research.

How leader-member exchange affects work outcomes in small-and-medium enterprises?

Orientation: Employees with a collectivistic culture want the closeness and support of their leaders. How leader-member exchange (LMX), perceived organisational support (POS), job satisfaction (JS) and organisational commitment (OC) influence each other still requires in-depth research because there are differences between the results of previous studies.Research purpose: This study examined the relationship model of LMX and POS as antecedent, mediator and moderator variables on work outcomes such as JS and OC in small- and medium enterprises (SMEs) with a collectivistic culture and high-power distance.Motivation for the study: Leadership in SMEs gets less attention because of its role in managing and carrying out operational activities.Research approach/design and method: Data were collected from 427 employees using questionnaires with purposive sampling, which was tested for validity and reliability. Structural equation modelling (SEM) and multi-group SEM were used to test the relationship model.Main findings: The results of testing four relationship models proved that the LMX relationship did not directly affect JS and OC but was mediated by POS. LMX can also be a mediator and moderator of the relationship model.Practical/managerial implications: This study emphasises the need to minimise the differences between in-group and out-group in the leaders-followers relationship to improve employee performance. Leaders must expand the range of their relationships with followers to improve work outcomes.Contribution/value-add: This study examined LMX as an important predictor of work outcomes with clearer mechanisms. LMX cannot be a predictor if employees do not feel the leader’s support as a representative of the organisation.

Translating team-member exchange relationships to school outcomes: the mediating role of leader-member exchange

PurposeRelying on the principles of the social exchange theory, the current study is aimed at investigating the impact of team-member exchange relationships (TMX) among school management team (SMT) members on school outcomes (organizational citizenship behavior [OCB], job satisfaction and innovation) via the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships between principals and SMTs.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from multiple sources in 86 elementary and junior high schools to avoid one-source bias: 86 principals, 357 SMT members and 683 schoolteachers who were not members of the management teams.FindingsThe results revealed a positive relationship between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction and OCB, but no significant link between TMX and innovation. LMX partially mediated the relationship between TMX and OCB and between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction. Full mediation was found in TMX-innovation relationship.Practical implicationsThe findings carry a message for school principals and policymakers regarding the importance of developing and maintaining high-quality horizontal and vertical exchange relationships among the SMT members for their positive influence on school outcomes.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the link between TMX and LMX as a team phenomenon, and specifically in the educational setting. The finding that there is a positive link between the two constructs may imply that SMTs contribute to school success not only directly by exhibiting high-quality TMX but also indirectly through the high-quality LMX.

WORK CONDITION FACTORS AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL

Work conditions influenced employee engagement, but its influence was still unclear owing to its multifaceted nature and variations across professions and industries in highly dynamic environments. In addition, studies on the psychological mechanisms explaining this relationship were limited. The study examined specific work condition factors comprising leader-member exchange and role clarity as influences on employee engagement, given psychological capital as a mediating variable. Data were obtained from 231 customer-contact employees working in hotels in two major cities, Asaba and Warri, in Delta State, Nigeria, and analyzed using the partial least squares analytical procedure. The study found that leader-member exchange and role clarity relationships with employee engagement were positive and significant, and psychological capital mediated these relationships. Also, role clarity and psychological capital sequentially mediated the relationship between leader-member exchange and employee engagement. The study contributed an integrated research framework that uncovered the sequential effect of leader-member exchange on employee engagement and the simple and sequential mediation of psychological capital in this framework. The practical implications of the findings were discussed for improving employee engagement.

A Purposeful Approach to LMX Differentiation: The Role of LMX With Key Members

A central idea in the leader-member exchange (LMX) literature is that leaders, due to the limited organizational and personal resources available to them, often struggle with developing and maintaining high-quality exchange relationships with all of their members. As a natural consequence, leaders typically form high-quality relationships with a select few members—often those who seem likable or are similar to the leader—while maintaining formal and distant relationships (i.e., low-quality LMX) with others. This form of differentiated treatment of members creates tensions in team dynamics. In this paper, we propose that leaders can mitigate the downsides of leader-member exchange differentiation (LMXD) for team dynamics by being more purposeful and strategic in how they differentiate in their treatment of members. Specifically, we posit that when leaders strategically develop high-quality LMX relationships with key members—individuals occupying influential positions in team social networks—such key members will engage in behaviors that buffer the negative impact of LMXD on team dynamics. Our framework integrates LMX theory with perspectives from social networks research to illustrate how strategic differentiation influences task and relational team dynamics. Finally, we discuss recommendations for empirically testing, theoretical extensions, and practical implications of this framework.

Does Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Ambivalence Influence Employees' Constructive Deviance?

The ambivalent experience of superior-subordinate relationships is widespread in organisations and has gradually become an important factor influencing employees to actively engage in extra-role behaviours. However, employees' constructive deviance is extremely important for organisational development as they are important extra-role behaviours for organisational innovation and change. Owing that academic research on the antecedents of employees' constructive extra-role behaviours has lacked attention to individual emotional variables such as the leader-member exchange ambivalence, by drawing on self-control resource theory and social cognitive theory, this study examined the effects of leader-member exchange ambivalence on employees' constructive deviance, as well as the role of ego depletion and role-breadth self-efficacy. Based on a two-point questionnaire survey of 332 employees from different industries in China, the study tested hypotheses with SPSS 27 and AMOS 27 and found that the more leader-member exchange ambivalence, the less likely they were to engage in employees' constructive deviance, leader-member exchange ambivalence affected employees' constructive deviance through ego depletion, and when role-breadth self-efficacy is high, the lower the ego depletion of employees with leader-member exchange ambivalence, the more likely they are to engage in employees' constructive deviance. This study is intended to guide organisations to pay attention to the problem of individual internal conflict arising from superior-subordinate relationships, to remove the barriers to constructive transgression by individuals, and to truly exploit the innovative capacity of individual organisations. The study suggests that managers should pay attention to the negative effects of employees' perceived ambivalent experiences of supervisor-subordinate relationships, maintain consistency, and build positive social exchange relationships with their employees. Organisations should strengthen the training of leaders and employees to eliminate the serious internal attrition that organisations face from social network relationships. And employees should face the limitations of resources and reduce dependence on the leader-member exchange relationship as the dependence for their work attitudes and behaviours.

Employees high in political skill viewed as role model or gossip target? Linking political skill to coworker envy, observational learning and negative gossip, and the moderating role of workplace friendship

AbstractThe effects of political skill on the actors themselves have been extensively studied, yet there has been a lack of comprehensive analysis regarding its influence on the reactions of coworkers. Drawing upon social comparison theory, we developed and tested a model to explore potential reactions from coworkers toward employees high in political skill. We theorized that employees high in political skill hold a more prominent status within the team, which in turn exposes them to being the target of coworker envy, and ultimately coworker different reactions (observational learning and negative gossip). We also hypothesized that the serial‐mediated relationships are moderated by workplace friendship. Using time‐lagged data from 830 dyad of 350 employees in 107 teams, our results supported that political skill was positively and indirectly related to coworker envy, via relative leader‐member exchange (RLMX). Furthermore, the results of our study supported the positive and indirect effect of political skill on observational learning and negative gossip via RLMX and coworker envy. Workplace friendship has a moderating effect on the relationship between coworker envy and observational learning/negative gossip, and between political skill and observational learning/negative gossip. This research provides an explanation of when and why coworkers engage in observational learning or negative gossip about employees high in political skill, contributing to a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of the management practices related to political skill guidance.

The art of staying in touch – exploring daily feedback interactions between a leader and a subordinate in remote work

PurposeThis study aims to widen the understanding of how remote work shapes the feedback environment by examining the perceptions of leaders and subordinates of daily, dyadic feedback interactions. The emphasis is on understanding how reciprocity within leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships manifests and how it influences the feedback dynamics.Design/methodology/approachTemplate analysis of a qualitative data set consisting of 81 semi-structured interviews with leaders (n = 29) and remote working subordinates (n = 52) was performed.FindingsDrawing on the theoretical frameworks of the feedback environment and the leader-member exchange, the findings demonstrate the imbalance between the efforts of leaders and subordinates in building and maintaining a favourable feedback environment in the remote work context. The results of this study highlight the importance of the dyadic nature of feedback interactions, calling for a more proactive role from subordinates.Practical implicationsGiven the estimation that the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed the way organizations work, leaders, subordinates and HR practitioners will benefit from advancing their understanding of the characteristics of dyadic, daily feedback interaction in remote work.Originality/valueQualitative research on feedback and leader-member exchange interactions in remote work that combines the perceptions of leaders and subordinates is sparse.

자원봉사센터 종사자의 LMX가 조직몰입을 매개로 조직시민행동에 미치는 영향 연구

Volunteer centers are non-profit organizations that pursue public interest and are an important foundation for the growth of civil society. Accordingly, the effect of LMX (leader-member exchange relationship) of volunteer center workers on organizational citizenship behavior by mediating organizational commitment was studied through this study. With the implementation of the Framework Act on Volunteer Activities in 2005, the establishment of an institutional system of volunteering has a significant meaning that the volunteer center has grown into a non-profit organization with an intermediate organizational character. Therefore, in order to study the impact of organizational citizenship behavior to improve the quality of volunteer center workers, a study was conducted on 519 paid employees who had worked at a volunteer center for at least 3 months. Descriptive statistical analysis, t-test, and structural equation model analysis were conducted as research methods. Several meaningful results were derived through the study, which are as follows. First, LMX had a positive (+) effect on emotional commitment and continuous commitment. However, LMX did not show an effect on organizational citizenship behavior. Second, emotional commitment and continuous commitment had a positive (+) effect on organizational citizenship behavior. Third, LMX influenced organizational citizenship behavior by mediating emotional commitment and continuous commitment. These research findings suggested the necessity of improving LMX and organizational culture to increase organizational commitment to improve organizational citizenship behavior of volunteer center workers.

Process and Content in Performance Management: How Consistency and Supervisor Developmental Feedback Decrease Emotional Exhaustion Via High-Quality LMX

Performance Management (PM) is often criticized for undermining employee emotional exhaustion. To avoid such unintended consequences, this study investigates how PM can be of benefit to employee emotional exhaustion by integrating both process and content aspects of PM. Results show that a consistent PM process, in which the same performance expectations are maintained across the different practices of performance planning, monitoring, and evaluation, is negatively related to employees’ emotional exhaustion, indirectly via the development of high-quality Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) relationships. Second, we found that, in terms of the content, supervisor developmental feedback acts as a moderator, determining the need to implement PM as a consistent process. A consistent PM process was especially important when the feedback provided throughout the PM process involved a lesser developmental content. When employees already received a large amount of developmental feedback, the degree to which the PM process was characterized by consistency made no difference to outcomes.

Leading for growth: a daily investigation of affiliation resources provided by the leader and nonwork mastery

PurposeAlthough nonwork mastery generates personal resources and improves employee well-being and performance, employees must invest personal resources to experience mastery during nonwork time. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and resource exchange perspectives, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of day-to-day provisions of affiliation resources by the leader in generating the personal resources necessary for employees to engage in nonwork mastery.Design/methodology/approachDaily diary data were collected from 198 employees (768 days). The proposed model was tested using Bayesian multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results showed that on days when employees perceived that their leader provided more affiliation resources, they reported higher self-esteem and work engagement and, in turn, experienced higher levels of mastery. Furthermore, employees in high-quality (vs low-quality) leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships benefitted more from the affiliation resources provided by their leader in terms of work engagement.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that leaders can actively manage their employees' daily experience and functioning through seemingly ordinary demonstrations of warmth, care, and positive regard.Originality/valueThis study highlights the important role of leaders in improving employee daily work and nonwork experience and functioning and sheds light on the tangible resource provisions in the work context and the associated personal resources that account for daily variations in mastery. By distinguishing between daily affiliation resources and general perceptions of LMX relationship quality, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the implications that resource provisions by the leader have for employees.

License for Wrongdoing: Why better relationships with leaders lead to employee unethical behavior

Relative leader-member exchange (RLMX) refers to one’s leader-member exchange (LMX) relative to the average LMX within the team. Higher RLMX indicates a better-than-average relationship quality with the leader. Drawing on social comparison theory and the literature on psychological licensing, we suggest that higher RLMX is likely to facilitate employee psychological entitlement, leading to engagement in unethical behavior. In addition, the indirect relationship is more salient in teams with a higher political climate. The results of a scenario experiment and a multi-wave, multi-source survey provide support for the hypotheses. Implications for research, practice, and future research are discussed.

Examining the Relationship Between Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and Subordinate Achievement Goal Orientations

ABSTRACT To date, organizational behavior and leadership scholars have placed a considerable amount of effort into understanding and expanding upon the LMX framework. One way that scholars have attempted to expand upon the LMX framework has been to examine whether certain moderators qualify the LMX process. This manuscript proposes that organizational members’ achievement orientations (i.e. mastery, performance-avoidance, and performance-approach orientations) constitute one likely set of member characteristics that qualify the effects of LMX. In testing this general proposition, a sample (N = 818) of organizational members from myriad organizations were sampled. Regression analyses suggested that those with mastery orientations perform exceedingly better in high-quality LMX relationships, whereas those with performance-approach orientations perform exceedingly worse. Alternatively, the effects of performance-avoidance orientations are direct and negative. Implications, future directions, and limitations are discussed.

Do Victims Really Help Their Abusive Supervisors? Reevaluating the Positive Consequences of Abusive Supervision.

Do victims really help their abusive supervisors? Does abusive supervision have any positive consequence? The study aims to address this concern through extending the work by Tröster and Van Quaquebeke (2021). Using subordinates' self-reports, Tröster and Van Quaquebeke (2021) found that abusive supervision in high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship motivates subordinates to blame themselves, subsequently making them feel guilty and make up for it by being more helpful. By integrating both subordinates' and supervisors' perspectives, and using multi-wave, multi-source, and multi-level data collected in China, we obtain three major findings. First, as a replication of their findings, LMX moderates the direct effect of abusive supervision on workplace self-blame, and the indirect effect of abusive supervision on workplace guilt via workplace self-blame. The positive direct and indirect effects are stronger when LMX quality is higher. Second, different from their findings, LMX moderates the indirect effect of abusive supervision on supervisor-directed helping (evaluated by supervisors) via workplace self-blame and workplace guilt such that the negative indirect effect is stronger when LMX quality is higher. Third, as an extension, supervisor-evaluated LMX (SLMX) moderates the effect of workplace guilt on supervisor-directed helping such that the negative effect is stronger when SLMX is lower-quality. Put together, LMX and SLMX moderate the indirect effect of abusive supervision on supervisor-directed helping via workplace self-blame and workplace guilt. The negative indirect effect is stronger when LMX quality is higher, but SLMX quality is lower. Our study challenges previous speculations on the positive or beneficial consequences of abusive supervision, and thus contributes to the literature on abusive supervision.

When is higher LMX comparison not always effective? The role of team-level LMX disparity and neuroticism

ABSTRACT Treating relative leader-member exchange (i.e., RLMX) as the objective and leader-member exchange social comparison (i.e., LMXSC) as the subjective operation of LMX comparison (i.e., LMXC) within a team, we integrate the RLMX and LMXSC literature and examine when higher LMXC is not always effective in employees’ workplace outcomes (namely, self-efficacy, task performance, and creativity). Revisiting social comparison theory, we propose that LMXC has positive relationships with team members’ task performance and creativity via the role of self-efficacy. Furthermore, team-level LMX disparity and team members’ neuroticism affect the above direct and indirect relationships. Specifically, we hypothesize that amid low LMX disparity, members are more likely to perform assimilation rather than comparison that weakens the positive impacts of LMXC. Team members with high neuroticism are prone to make upward rather than downward social comparisons, which also mitigates the positive impacts of LMXC. We test our hypotheses in a field (using RLMX as the objective LMXC measure; n = 559, N = 71) and an experimental study (using LMXSC as the subjective LMXC measure; n = 176). Generally, we find support for our hypotheses. Our study thus deepens the understanding of the effectiveness of LMXC within team contexts.

Do employees dare to improvise under authoritarian leadership? A conditional indirect effect depending on relationship and task environment

Abstract To understand the extent to which employees choose to improvise under authoritarian leadership, we applied social information processing theory to examine the mechanisms and boundary conditions of such leadership’s influence on subordinates’ perceptions of managerial intolerance of errors and their improvisation from the perspective of negative leadership. Data from a multi-wave questionnaire survey of 319 frontline teams analysed using SPSS and Mplus revealed that authoritarian leadership can have an inhibitory effect on subordinates’ improvisation due to perceiving managerial intolerance of errors. Even so, the negative mediating effect is significantly weakened by the moderating effect of a leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship and task complexity. That is, when the level of the LMX relationship or task complexity is high, it mitigates authoritarian leadership’s indirect inhibitory effect on subordinates’ improvisation via their perceptions of management’s intolerance of errors.

Leader–Subordinate Gender Composition and Leader Empowering Behavior

Focusing on gender role theory and the queen bee phenomenon, this study explored the differentiated exchange relationships between leaders and subordinates with different gender composition, and their influence on leader empowering behavior. We collected data from 1,211 subordinates of 286 teams at a Fortune 500 company in China through the questionnaire method. The empirical analysis results showed that the leader-member exchange relationship of the woman leader-woman subordinate composition was lower than that of the man leader-man subordinate composition, which further reduced leader empowering behavior. This study further used man leader-woman subordinate and woman leader-man subordinate compositions as control groups to verify the effectiveness of the queen bee phenomenon. We concluded that the queen bee phenomenon alone does not significantly affect leader empowering behavior, but that the combination of gender stereotypes and queen bee phenomenon has a significant effect.