Treat me better, but is it really better? Applying a resource perspective to understanding leader–member exchange (LMX), LMX differentiation, and work stress.

Abstract

The leader-member exchange (LMX) literature proposes that leaders tend to differentiate the quality of relationships among their followers, but it remains unclear how individual LMX and LMX differentiation (i.e., the degree to which followers' LMX quality with the same leader varies within a team) may jointly shape follower well-being such as work stress. Drawing from a resource perspective, we hypothesize that LMX differentiation reduces the beneficial effect of LMX on work stress via decreasing perceived distributive justice. Work stress is further hypothesized to mediate the relationship between LMX and employees' proactive behavior and prosocial behavior. Three empirical studies were conducted to test the hypothesized model. Study 1 surveyed a sample of 1,181 employees nested in 120 teams from a Chinese insurance firm across three time points; Study 2 manipulated both LMX and LMX differentiation in a vignette-based experiment using 140 full-time employees in the United States; and Study 3 surveyed 440 full-time employees in the United States across three time points. Results provided converging evidence for our hypothesized model and suggest that one's relationship with their leader-both on its own and in relation to others' relationships with the same leader-may serve as an important source for their psychological well-being (or lack thereof). Theoretical and practical implications were discussed along with limitations and future directions.

41 st International Conference on Organizational Science Development

“…Having a good relationship between leader and member within LMX theory, presents an important source for leader's psychological well-being and has an important impact on work-related stress levels (Liang et al, 2021). Leader automatically develops a relationship with each member during daily and person to person interactions which strongly influences employee engagement, work zeal and stress level (Wang & Li, 2018), yet with working from home, leader has no extensive interactions with his members or followers.…”

“…During work from home, the leader's stress increased, as there is no person to person contact between employees and directly between the leader and the employee, and the leader cannot perform other vital activities such as adapting the approach to each employee, maintaining work environment and organizational climate, which are the central part of LMX theory (Alexander, 2020;Liang et al, 2021;Wang & Li, 2018). With work from home, practicing LMX theory cannot reach its full potential, furthermore, there is a risk of deteriorating relationships, trust and organizational climate (Alexander, 2020).…”

“…Despite the fact that the leader adapts his approach for each employee, within Leader-member exchange theory, it cannot be avoided that the quality of relationships among their members differentiate (Liang et al, 2021). As shown in the findings of a recent study, which examined the impact of differentiation in the quality of the relationship between leader and member, on work-related stress levels, employee's relationships with their leader, both on its own and in a collective manner, can serve as an important source for leader's psychological well-being (Liang et al, 2021).…”

“…Another research has shown that when practicing Leader-member exchange theory, the leader's stress is conditioned by the quality of the relationships between him and his members, as this presents an important beginning towards the leader's psychological well-being (Liang et al, 2021). It has also been stated that good relationships are built with daily person to person interactions, which in the case of working from home, are absent and as a result, the leader's stress increases (Dunaetz, 2020).…”

Voice Endorsement and Employee Safety Voice Behavior in Construction Projects: The Mediating Role of Leader-Member Exchange

“…Some studies have shown that leadership behavior has an important impact on LMX quality [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. The influence of voice endorsement on LMX can be explained from two aspects: First, voice endorsement helps employees to judge whether their cognition of organizational problems is accurate through leader’s supportive attitude so as to reduce organizational conflicts caused by individual role ambiguity, thus forming a high-quality LMX relationship; second, the social exchange theory holds that reciprocal norms are the core principle of LMX, and the mutual feedback based on each other’s contribution is the basis for the maintenance and development of the exchange relationship [ 40 , 41 ]. When individuals get the benefits provided by others, they will correspondingly give back the necessary benefits to the benefit providers.…”