Can Opposites Attract? Personality Heterogeneity in Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads as a Predictor of Subordinate Outcomes.

Abstract

Unlike the majority of research hypothesizing that similarity between individuals results in positive individual outcomes, this article examines whether dissimilarity results in positive outcomes. On the basis of interpersonal interaction theory, the authors hypothesized that dissimilarity in the personality dimension of control within supervisor-subordinate dyads is positively associated with the subordinate's satisfaction with the supervisor; results obtained with polynomial regression techniques were supportive. However, for 2 other outcomes, organizational citizenship behaviors and work withdrawal, neither similarity nor dissimilarity within the dyad was important; subordinate level of control was related to organizational citizenship behaviors reported by subordinates, and supervisor level of control was related to work withdrawal reported by subordinates. These findings portray the importance of examining relationship complexities beyond similarity in organizational dyad research.

Linking internal marketing with customer outcomes

“…This study also acknowledges the importance of manager-employee dissimilarity during the investigation of cross-level effects, as the dissimilarity within the manager-subordinate dyad may play a role in these cascading effects (Glomb and Welsh, 2005). Perceived dissimilarity refers to the perception that subordinates' values and attitudes differ from the manager's ones (Harrison and Klein, 2007).…”

Do Birds of a Feather Communicate Better? The Cognitive Style Congruence Between Managers and Their Employees and Communication Satisfaction

“…For example, in a study among managers and employees in an assisted living and healthcare organization, incongruence in control dimension (dominant vs. submissive) improved subordinate satisfaction (Glomb & Welsh, 2005). Another study among accounting students demonstrated that when individuals who pay attention to physical reality and focus on details (analytic) are placed in a dyad with those who pay attention to impressions and patterns (intuitive), they performed better in a complex decision task compared to homogeneous dyads (Cheng, Luckett, & Schulz, 2003).…”

“…Although there are some disagreements between earlier (Cooper & Miller, 1991;Handley, 1982;Turban & Jones, 1988) and more recent (Allinson et al, 2001;Armstrong et al, 2004;Glomb & Welsh, 2005;KristofBrown et al, 2005) studies on whether similarity of cognitive style will lead to better communication satisfaction or whether a manager with a certain cognitive style will be preferred by all employees regardless of employee cognitive style match or mismatch, or whether a complimentary cognitive style where differences will improve the communication satisfaction, in the high context cultural environment that we conducted our study, we expect that similarity will lead to improved communication satisfaction. Therefore, we hypothesize that:…”

Integrating leadership: The leadership circumplex

“…However, when studying leadership behaviour, leader and subordinate are, as the words say, already appointed to a hierarchical position, by function or position in an organization. An indication of the usefulness of a circumplex approach is provided in a study by Glomb and Welsh (2005), who demonstrated that subordinate satisfaction is higher when their supervisor shows complementary behaviours on the personality dimension of control than when he or she shows noncomplementary behaviours on the control dimension. The CLS, by being a circular behavioural model, can help to gain insight in whether certain leadership behaviours invite complemented or mimicked behaviours of the subordinate and vice versa.…”