HRM and the leader are often assumed to play a joint role in affecting employee reactions. In a multilevel, time-lagged study, we examined the joint role of the employment relationship and leader-member exchange. We tested whether this joint role is essential to when leadermember exchange leads to affective well-being via psychological empowerment. We build on HRM literature to expect that the relationship of leader-member exchange with psychological empowerment is stronger when the employment relationship is consistent with leader-member exchange quality. Results indicated that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between leader-member exchange and affective well-being. This mediation is stronger for employees in a mutual investment employment relationship. The findings point at the importance of consistency of resources from the employment relationship and leadermember exchange. Nevertheless, the findings also suggest that resources from leader-member exchange compensate for employment relationships with low resources. Our findings contribute to scholars' understanding of the joint role of HRM systems and leader behaviors.
KeywordsEmployment relationship, LMX, psychological empowerment, affective well-being, HRM systems, leader behavior 3