Social cognition in leader?follower relationships: Applying insights from relationship science to understanding relationship?based approaches to leadership

By G. Thomas, Robin Martin, O. Epitropaki, Yves R. F. Guillaume, Allan Lee. 2013

103 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Relationship-based approaches to leadership (e.g., Leader–Member Exchange theory) currently represent one of the most popular approaches to understanding workplace leadership. Although the concept of “relationship” is central to these approaches, generally this has not been well articulated and is often conceptualized simply in terms of relationship quality between the leader and the follower. In contrast, research in the wider relationship science domain provides a more detailed exposition of relationships and how they form and develop. We propose that research and methodology developed in relationship science (i.e., close relationships) can enhance understanding of the leader–follower relationship and therefore advance theory in this area. To address this issue, we organize our review in two areas. First, we examine how a social cognitive approach to close relationships can benefit an understanding of the leader–follower relationship (in terms of structure, content, and processes). Second, we show how the research designs and methodologies that have been developed in relationship science can be applied to understand better the leader–follower relationship. The cross-fertilization of research from the close relationships literature to understanding the leader–follower relationship provides new insights into leadership processes and potential avenues for further research.

Subfields: Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/3af6b330ecf7619ad0fc6736e87ef3fa1e709e53

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In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Leader–member exchange (LMX) differentiation and work outcomes: conceptual clarification and critical review (2018, background): “…process should invoke contrast effects inwhich individuals, depending upon their relative position in the team, experience a downward comparison‐feel‐good‐perform better effect or an upward comparison‐feel bad‐perform worse effect (Thomas et al., 2013a; for a review, see Buunk & Gibbons, 2007).”
Linking core self-evaluation and emotional exhaustion with workplace loneliness: does high LMX make the consequence worse? (2019, background): “…an employee and his/her leader (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995) and this ‘relationship’ (the central concept of LMX) that both parties share with each other (Thomas et al., 2013) is critical in determining the work experiences of employees (Brower, Schoorman, & Tan, 2000), including their experience of…”