Social Exchange Relationships Research Articles

Core self-evaluations and workplace deviance: The role of resources and self-regulation

In this study, we examine the relationship between employees' core self-evaluations (CSE) and workplace deviance. Further, taking a person–environment perspective, we utilize a conservation of resources framework (Hobfoll, 1989), proposing that the degree to which employees are able to attain resources, versus the extent to which resources are drained from the individual, acts as a mediating mechanism between CSE and deviance. Specifically, we propose that employees' CSE is related to deviance through its association with a decrease in the depletion of resources (utilized as emotional exhaustion) and an increase in the ability to garner external resources by fostering social exchange relationships within the workplace (utilized as trust in the supervisor). Data were collected from 518 employee–supervisor dyads across 35 different organizations. Results revealed that trust in the supervisor fully mediated the relationship between CSE and deviance directed both at other individuals and the organization, while emotional exhaustion was a significant mediator for the relationship between CSE and interpersonal deviance. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.

Employees' perceptions of HR investment and their efforts to remain internally employable: testing the exchange-based mechanisms of the ‘new psychological contract’

This study investigates the relationship between perceived investment in employee development (PIED) and the internal employability efforts that such perceptions are assumed to influence under the terms of the ‘new psychological contract’. A cross-sectional survey among 238 employees in a Norwegian IT and management consulting firm provides support that PIED relates positively to employees' openness to develop themselves and adapt to changing work requirements (‘internal employability orientation’) and their active pursuit of new competencies and career trajectories within the organization (‘internal employability activities’). However, our findings challenge widely held claims that investment in employee development elicits these responses by way of the reciprocal mechanisms of a social exchange relationship. While PIED is found to relate positively to employees' perceptions of a social exchange relationship with their organization, these positive exchange experiences are not supported to influence internal employability outcomes. Our findings do support, however, that PIED relates negatively to perceived economic exchange relationships that in turn undermine internal employability orientations. Suggestions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.

Ascendancy of the Tudulgal, central Torres Strait: Socio-political manipulation and domination of an archipelago polity

Survival for the ethnographically-known Kulkalgal of the drought-prone reef islands of central Torres Strait focused on high mobility, translocation, food storage, and importation of cultivated plant foods. These buffering mechanisms were underpinned by a dynamic and flexible web of social alliances and exchange relationships spread across 700km of seaspace. The small and resource-poor island of Tudu (inhabited by the Tudulgal, a subgroup of the Kulkalgal) was a central place within the regional archipelago polity. It is hypothesised that the Tudulgal strategically increased resource self-sufficiency and orchestrated socio-political dominance to help obviate economic vulnerability. These ethnographic patterns provide the basis for developing archaeological hypotheses on socio-political ascendancy of the Tudulgal, focusing on chronological insights into material dimensions of increasing self-sufficiency (e.g., intensified use of local marine foods, horticultural garden produce, and clam shell technology), and increasing regional domination of exchange (e.g., intensified importation of exotics), canoe trade (e.g., intensified production of shell valuables), and headhunting cults and warfare (e.g., intensified use of skull shrines). While cultural complexity is usually associated with resource-rich coastal contexts and hierarchical societies, the Tudulgal demonstrate that regional polity development and associated socio-political and socio-economic complexity can occur in response to limited availability of critical terrestrial food and water resources in societies that are largely heterarchical and egalitarian.

Job insecurity and organizational citizenship behavior: exploring curvilinear and moderated relationships.

This article examined a curvilinear relationship between job insecurity and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Drawing from social exchange theory and research on personal control, we developed and tested an explanation for employees' reactions to job insecurity based on their conceptualization of their social exchange relationship with the organization at different levels of job insecurity. Using data from 244 Chinese employees and 102 supervisory ratings of OCB, we found support for a U-shaped relationship between job insecurity and OCB. Moreover, 2 factors--psychological capital and subordinate-supervisor guanxi--moderated the curvilinear relationship, such that the curvilinear relationship is more pronounced among those with lower psychological capital or less positive subordinate-supervisor guanxi.

Multiple sources of support, affective commitment, and citizenship behaviors

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of passive leadership in the relationships of perceived support from organization, coworkers, and physicians to affective commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among hospital employees.Design/methodology/approach– Using a sample of 182 hospital employees and a time-lagged design in which predictors and moderator were assessed at Time 1 and self-reported OCB was obtained 2.5 years later, the authors examined whether passive leadership moderates the relationships of perceived supports to commitment and their indirect effects on OCB.Findings– Analyses indicate that at high levels of passive leadership, the relationship between support from organization and coworkers and commitment is less positive and the relationship between support from physicians and commitment is negative. Moreover, the indirect effect of perceived support from coworkers and physicians on OCB through affective commitment is weaker at high levels of passive leadership.Research limitations/implications– Although the data used were self-reported, the analyses show that method variance accounted for only 9 percent of the variance among constructs at Time 1. Findings contribute to highlight the boundary conditions associated with perceived support and establish that passive leadership severely limits the beneficial effects expected from support available to employees.Practical implications– Findings suggest that supervisors should be trained not only on improving positive leadership skills but also on reducing passive behaviors in the face of problems in their teams.Originality/value– This study extends the understanding of social exchange processes in organizations and invites managers and researchers to look at factors that slow down the development of social exchange relationships with employees.

Partial-altruistic interactions as a function of reciprocity induction and written declarations

ABSTRACTTwo studies were conducted to systematically evaluate the effects of induced reciprocity by a confederate and written declarations about anticipated responding in the task on partial-altruistic interactions. The experimental situation consisted of solving puzzles on two synchronized computer screens. Sixteen college students were assigned to 16 dyads (one participant and one confederate), eight in each experiment. All dyads were exposed to successive experimental conditions in which the percentage of pieces placed in the participant’s puzzle by the confederate varied from 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% to 100%. Half of the dyads were exposed to an increasing order of percentages and the other half to a decreasing order. In Experiment 1, the effects of time-restricted induction of reciprocal behavior by a confederate were analyzed, implementing a response alternation procedure, on partial-altruistic behavior of the participant in the dyad. In Experiment 2, the effects of the interaction between reciprocal responding and written declarations anticipating the participant’s responses in the same partial-altruistic situation were compared. Participants showed partial-altruistic behavior as a function of the percentage of pieces placed by the confederates in remote puzzle. Results are discussed in terms of the kinds of reciprocity involved in all social exchange relations and the role of situational and verbal factors.

The Talent Deal: How employees respond to global talent management.

This paper argues that an organisation’s management of its talent is central to its opportunity to benefit from human capital, and that in doing so, the activity of talent management will influence the organisation’s exchange relationship with its employees. Closer examination of the impact of talent management on the social exchange relationship between organisations and their employees is imperative for strategic management of talent to achieve intended organisational performance outcomes. Although strategic human resource management (SHRM), international management (IM) and organizational behaviour (OB) literatures each examine aspects of the employee’s relationship and contribution to firm performance, the employee response to organizational talent management is largely overlooked. This paper repositions the employee as the central actor in talent management, through presentation of a research model which theorises the impact of talent management on the social exchange relationship and introduces the concepts of the

Letting the Chosen Ones Know: The Psychological Effects of Talent Status Self-Awareness

Due to organizational concerns about the effects of openly communicating employees’ talent status, employees may not be aware of having been identified as talent. In this paper, we examine how talent status self-awareness on the part of the individual influences the social exchange relationship between the employer and the talent. We propose that the relationship between psychological contract fulfillment, promised inducements and performance appraisal is modified by talent status self-awareness. Based on analyses of a sample of 313 talents – as identified by their respective multinational corporations (MNCs) – we find that talent status self-awareness makes talent more demanding in terms of psychological contract fulfillment, and performance appraisal less effective as a management tool. The findings have important implications for talent status communication, differentiated HRM practices, as well as future research on talent management.

"Increases in Status, Perceived Under-Reciprocation, and Social Undermining Among Top Managers"

This paper explores how social and psychological biases may impede the social exchange relations of executives who ascend to high- status corporate leadership positions. We theorize that a combination of self-serving attribution biases among executives who reach high-status positions, and egocentric biases among their prior benefactors, causes a systematic difference in perceptions between the two parties about the relative importance of that help to the high-status beneficiary’s success. This in turn leads to the perception among prior benefactors that the high-status executives have not adequately reciprocated their help. We then extend this theoretical argument, first by suggesting that the perception of under reciprocation is heightened when the high- status executive is a racial minority or a female. Second, we examine how high levels of ingratiation directed toward the high- status executives may contribute to the attribution biases which lead to perceptions of under-reciprocation. The final component of our theoretical framework addresses the significant social consequences of perceived under-reciprocation for the high-status corporate leaders. Specifically, we suggest that the high-status leaders’ ability to access help when needed is reduced, and they are liable to become the target of social undermining that can damage their broader reputation.

The mediating roles of leader–member exchange and perceived organizational support in the role stress–turnover intention relationship among child welfare workers: A longitudinal analysis

This study sought to identify the mediating roles of leader–member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) as social exchange relationships in the role stress–turnover intention relationship using a longitudinal perspective. Using three waves of 1-year data from a child welfare workforce study, cross-sectional and longitudinal path analyses were conducted. Findings indicated significant indirect effects of LMX and POS on the role stress–turnover intention relationship at a series of static time points. Changes in LMX and POS mediated the relationship between changes in role stress and turnover intention at the first 6-month time point, whereas mediating effects at the other two time points were not revealed. The findings underscore the importance of both social exchanges, LMX and POS, in managing child welfare workers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Precarious islands: Kulkalgal reef island settlement and high mobility across 700 km of seascape, central Torres Strait and northern Great Barrier Reef

Small Pacific reef islands (including atolls and sandy cays) are often precarious landscapes for human habitation on the margins of sustainability. Formed mostly within the past 4000 years, reef islands are amongst the newest and most recently colonised landscapes in human history. Innovative strategies developed by saltwater peoples to successfully colonise and sustainably occupy these dynamic environments illustrate human ingenuity with implications for modern reef island communities facing the predicted impacts of global warming. As a prelude to future archaeological research, this paper presents a detailed synthesis of early ethnohistorical and ethnographic information on settlement patterns, secular and ceremonial site types, and social interactions of the Kulkalgal people who continue to inhabit the small, drought-prone reef islands of central Torres Strait, northeast Australia. These skilled navigators voyaged in large double outrigger sailing canoes across 700 km of seascape and possessed the most geographically-dispersed settlement pattern known for any Australian Indigenous coastal group. The Kulkalgal developed dense networks of social interactions and exchange relationships with their neighbours, especially the Eastern Islanders of Torres Strait and New Guinea peoples to the north. In addition to expressing historically-contingent socio-political relationships, it is argued that these networks formed part of a range of socio-economic risk-buffering strategies to offset the dry season impoverished terrestrial resource base (plant foods and drinking water) of reef islands. Kulkalgal settlement patterns were complex and flexible and designed in part to take advantage of super-abundances of marine foods and to accommodate the seasonal vagaries of terrestrial resource availability. They ranged from population dispersal during the long dry season to congregation during the wet season when crop planting and communal ceremonies were scheduled. Investigating the long-term emergence and development of these socio-economic arrangements presents opportunities for mutually-informative comparisons with the more established archaeology of Pacific atoll societies.

Effects of Resource Availability on Social Exchange Relationships: The Case of Employee Psychological Contract Obligations

Applications of social exchange theory in organizational research have tended to ignore the resource context and its impact on a focal dyadic social exchange. Integrating insights from the social exchange theory and the conservation of resources theory, we examine the role of resource availability in the social exchange of resources. The type of social exchange we focus on is the psychological contract. Specifically, we examine the antecedents and consequence of breach of employee obligations to an employer. We test our predictions using multisource data obtained from employees over three measurement periods in Sample 1 and matched triads (employee, supervisor, and coworker) in Sample 2. We found that family–work conflict (FWC) and breach of employer obligations are positively, while conscientiousness is negatively, related to employees’ perceptions of breach of their obligations. Conscientiousness moderated the FWC–breach relationship: Employees low on conscientiousness have a stronger positive relationship between FWC and breach of employee obligations. Breach of employee obligations is, in turn, negatively related to employee career progression (a job promotion over the following year in Sample 1 and supervisor-rated promotability in Sample 2). Findings highlight the interconnected nature of demands, resources, and obligations and that dyadic social exchange obligations should be examined in the context of other demands.

If and when social and economic leader-member exchange relationships predict follower work effort

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize social leader-member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader-member exchange (ELMX) as two separate dimensions of leader-member exchange, and examines how intrinsic work motivation moderates their relationship with follower work effort. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 352 employee-leader dyads from the public health sector in Norway (response rate=61.9 percent). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the relationship between subordinate rated SLMX and ELMX relationships and leader ratings of work effort. Findings – This study replicates prior research showing that SLMX is positively related and ELMX negatively related to followers’ work effort. A significant interaction between SLMX and intrinsic motivation is also revealed, suggesting that SLMX relationships are important with respect to work effort for followers who exhibit lower levels of intrinsic work motivation. Research limitations/implications – The data were cross-sectional, thus prohibiting causal inferences. Practical implications – SLMX relationships may be particularly important for the work effort of followers low in intrinsic motivation. Leaders may draw on this finding and seek to aid the development of the relationship by means of relationship-oriented behaviors. Originality/value – Given the importance of maximizing the performance of all the followers, a better understanding of the conditions under which SLMX and ELMX relationships relate to work effort is particularly important. The present study advances knowledge on SLMX and ELMX relationships by demonstrating how intrinsic motivation moderates how SLMX and ELMX relationships relate to follower work effort.

Knowledge withholding intentions in teams: The roles of normative conformity, affective bonding, rational choice and social cognition

The decision of members in a knowledge-intensive team to withhold their knowledge may threaten the performance of the team. To address the problem of knowledge resource risk in project teams, we maintain that it is important to understand why team members choose to withhold their knowledge, conceptualized as knowledge-withholding intentions. In line with the literature on effort withholding, the research on multifoci relations between justice perceptions and social exchanges, and social cognitive theory, we proposed that the social exchange relationships that individuals form in the workplace, their perceptions of justice, and their knowledge withholding self-efficacy would influence their knowledge-withholding intentions. Through a survey of 227 information system development team workers, we found that all social exchange relationship variables had a significant impact on knowledge-withholding intentions. However, the justice perception variables only indirectly influenced knowledge-withholding intentions through the mediation of social exchange relationships. In addition, one of the task variables, task interdependence, influenced knowledge withholding intentions through the mediation of knowledge withholding self-efficacy. Our results contribute to the knowledge management literature by providing a better understanding of the antecedents of knowledge withholding. We also offer suggestions for future research utilizing the framework of Kidwell and Bennett (1993) to study effort and knowledge withholding.

Overcoming ostracism at work: the remedial role of positive exchange relations

Purpose– The purpose of this study is, in considering the significant role of social exchange relations at work, to add value by highlighting the remedial effects of the individual guanxi network (IGN), perceived organizational support (POS) and leader–member exchange (LMX) in overcoming ostracism at work.Design/methodology/approach– Data were collected from 247 Chinese employees working in the services sector in Western Malaysia at two points in time. A questionnaire was used as a tool to gather responses from the selected sample. Respondents were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.Findings– Results of the study support the hypothesis and prove that the presence of social exchange relations (i.e. POS and LMX) can have a positive effect on reducing ostracism at work. The Chinese social value of IGN is also an important predictor in overcoming ostracism in Chinese organizations.Research limitations/implications– This study covers employees working in the service sector. A good and more realistic picture could be drawn by increasing the sample size and drawing comparisons with the manufacturing and trading sectors both in and outside Malaysia.Practical implications– One clear implication of this study is a suggested means of overcoming ostracism and its adverse effects at work.Originality/value– Determining a means of overcoming ostracism and eradicating its negative consequences is the main contribution of this study.

Leader–member exchange as a moderator of the relationship between employee–organization exchange and affective commitment

While there is some evidence on the outcomes of employee–organization exchange relationships and leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships, less is known about their combined role as predictors of employee outcomes. Relying on a recent conceptualization of social leader–member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader–member exchange (ELMX) as two separate dimensions of LMX, the present study explored whether SLMX and ELMX moderate the associations between organizational social and economic exchange and affective commitment. The main finding was that the association between organizational economic exchange and affective commitment is attenuated by SLMX. In addition, a positive association between intrinsic motivation and affective commitment was also unveiled, suggesting that affective commitment is not only determined by the prosocial motivation emanating from social exchange relationships, but also from the intrinsic motivation inherent in the work itself.

Scale indicators of social exchange relationships: A comparison of relative content validity.

Although social exchange theory has become one of the most oft-evoked theories in industrial and organizational psychology, there remains no consensus about how to measure its key mechanism: social exchange relationships (Blau, 1964). Drawing on Cropanzano and Byrne's (2000) review of contemporary social exchange theorizing, we examined the content validity of perceived support, exchange quality, affective commitment, trust, and psychological contract fulfillment as indicators of social exchange relationships. We used Hinkin and Tracey's (1999) quantitative approach to content validation, which asks participants to rate the correspondence between scale items and definitions of intended (and unintended) constructs. Our results revealed that some of the most frequently utilized indicators of social exchange relationships--perceived support and exchange quality--were significantly less content valid than rarely used options like affect-based trust. Our results also revealed that 2 direct measures--Bernerth, Armenakis, Feild, Giles, and Walker's (2007) scale and a scale created for this study--were content valid. We discuss the implications of these results for future applications of social exchange theory.

"Scale indicators of social exchange relationships: A comparison of relative content validity": Correction to Colquitt et al. (2014).

"Scale indicators of social exchange relationships: A comparison of relative content validity": Correction to Colquitt et al. (2014).

Examining the impact of social exchange relationships on innovative work behaviour

Purpose– This paper concurrently examines the antecedents, moderator as well as mediator of innovative work behavior (IWB).Design/methodology/approach– The paper reports a quantitative study of 510 managers from two service organizations based in western India. The focus of the paper is to examine the predictive ability of leader–member exchange (LMX), perceived organizational support (POS) and engagement on employees' IWB. Role of LMX as moderating variable (in POS–IWB relationship) and work engagement as the underlying mechanism explaining the relationship between predicting variables (LMX and POS) and IWB is tested.Findings– Results suggest that LMX, POS and work engagement positively relate to innovative employee behavior; LMX moderates the relationship between POS and innovative employee behavior. Additionally, work engagement mediates the relationship of LMX and POS with IWB.Research limitations/implications– Although this study is cross-sectional in nature, its findings have implications for contemporary leadership and organizational psychology research.Originality/value– This study significantly contributes to four different bodies of knowledge–work engagement, LMX, POS and IWB. The study also contributes in terms of its context. With increasing multinational opening their business in India, an understanding of employee motivation has become an important concern. This research is one of the rare attempts to examine engagement levels of Indian managerial employees.

Guanxi network and leader member exchange

Purpose– This study investigated how leader-member relation and guanxi association create an impetus for creative work involvement (CWI) through feeling of energy (FE). The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– A total of 239 Malaysian-Chinese employees occupying various designations in 23 manufacturing organizations were questioned at two points of time. At the first instance, they responded for guanxi network (GN) and leader member exchange associations; and at the second instance, for their FE and creative involvement.Findings– Structural equation modeling analysis showed that social exchange relations (GN and leader member exchange) positively predicted employees' FE which resulted in increased level of CWI.Social implications– This study adds value to the existing literature on guanxi association and signifies that such values are not boundary restricted. Malaysian-Chinese also experience guanxi associations and its impact on their job outcomes.Originality/value– This study covers an unexplored role of GN in improving employees' level of energy and CWI; and mediation of leader-member exchange in the association of GN and energy.