How Leader-Member Exchange Affects Creative Performance: An Examination From the Perspective of Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

It has been shown that leadership is a major factor that influences creative performance. Although past studies have found that leader-member exchange (LMX) has direct effects on employee creative performance, there continues to be a lack of research examining how the LMX relationship mediates creative performance. This study used self-determination theory to examine the mediating effects of the LMX relationship on creative performance through attitudinal and emotional processes. Participants were supervisors and subordinates of township enterprises in the Pearl River Delta in China. There were 386 valid supervisor-subordinate dyads. Supervisors were responsible for assessing creative performance and the remaining variables were completed by employees. Results showed that high LMX increased the positive moods of subordinates, improved creative performance, and stimulated intrinsic motivation for improvement. Based on the results, we have proposed academic and practical recommendations such as organizations that want to encourage creativity, could begin by training managers to demonstrate high LMX by strengthening their relationships with employees. We also described study limitations, and suggested directions for future studies.

Turnover Intention Factors and Its Effect on Extension Officers Job Performance in Ondo State, Nigeria

“…The hypotheses were supported. The results for all 4 factors of turnover intention were consistent with past research (Molla, 2020;Laosebikan et al, 2018;Xie et al, 2020;Parveen, 2019) in which it was also found that employees job performance is influenced by job satisfaction, leadership member exchange, emotional intelligence and organizational commitment.…”

In Leaders We Trust, or Should We? Supervisors’ Dark Triad Personality Traits and Ratings of Team Performance and Innovation

“…In particular, we join the call for more research that points to mechanisms that explain the association between SDT and organizational outcomes ( LeBreton et al, 2018 ) and we simultaneously test two relational mediators linked to social exchange (i.e., LMX) and social contagion (i.e., collective narcissism) that explain the influence of SDT on ratings of team innovation and performance. Previous research has shown the association between leaders’ behaviors and LMX, as well as the beneficial effects of high quality LMX for positive individual behaviors and outcomes ( Schuh et al, 2018 ; Andersen et al, 2020 ; Götz et al, 2020 ; Xie et al, 2020 ). Similarly, previous research has explored the way social contagion mechanisms explain the association between leadership behavioral tendencies (i.e., leader humility) and emergent states in teams (i.e., collective humility) ( Owens and Hekman, 2016 ).…”

Leader Psychological Need Satisfaction Trickles Down: The Role of Leader-Member Exchange

“…Accordingly, recent research indicates it is also important to consider psychological need satisfaction as an antecedent of positive leadership styles, as to better understand why leaders engage into behaviors conductive of such styles ( Paas et al, 2020 ). Second, prior work has mostly adopted a single level approach to psychological need satisfaction, overlooking how psychological need satisfaction is embedded in complex relations between leaders and followers ( Kuvaas and Buch, 2019 ; Xie et al, 2020 ) that cross multiple levels of analysis ( Schreurs et al, 2014 ; Batistič et al, 2017 ).…”

“…In particular, we advance that this trickling down takes place through interpersonal exchange processes between leaders and employees, as exemplified by leader-member exchange (LMX). LMX refers to the fact that leaders develop differentiated relationships with their employees ( Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995 ), where high-quality relationships are characterized by exchanges based on mutual trust, respect, liking, and influence ( Liden and Maslyn, 1998 ) and lead to positive outcomes for both parties ( Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995 ; Dulebohn et al, 2012 ; Xie et al, 2020 ). Since LMX is considered as need-driven ( Dulebohn et al, 2012 ) and need-satisfying process ( Kuvaas and Buch, 2019 ) that connects multiple levels of analysis ( Liao et al, 2019 ), we propose that LMX constitutes a mechanism through which leader psychological need satisfaction trickles down to employees, from a dyadic viewpoint.…”