When opposites do (and do not) attract: Interplay of leader and follower self-identities and its consequences for leader–member exchange

By Erin M. Jackson, Russell E. Johnson. 2012

101 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Employees' self-identities, or the ways in which they define themselves relative to others, have implications for the quality of leader and follower relationships at work. Although self-identity has been examined within the context of transformational and charismatic leadership, its relevance for leader–member exchange (LMX) has received little attention. In this study we integrate LMX and self-identity theories. Doing so proved useful because it was found that leader and follower identities predicted LMX quality, as did the fit between leader and follower identities and interactions among fit at different self-identity levels. LMX quality fully mediated relationships of self-identity fit with job performance, regardless of whether LMX was reported by subordinates or their supervisors. Lastly, we also found that self-identity predicted LMX agreement across supervisors and subordinates. Implications of our findings for theory and practice are discussed.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b9b02090446678d940652bfdfea83303a141e971

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In Gender Studies

In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

In Social Psychology

Citations in the corpus

Does Seeing “Eye To Eye” Affect Work Engagement and Organizational Citizenship Behavior? A Role Theory Perspective on LMX Agreement (2014, background): “This is important, because although researchers have begun to identify antecedents of LMX agreement (e.g., Jackson & Johnson, 2012; Schriesheim, Wu, & Cooper, 2011; Sin et al., 2009), the few studies that have investigated outcomes of LMX agreement have either artificially dichotomized the sample…”
Out of the Box? How Managing a Subordinate’s Multiple Identities Affects the Quality of a Manager-Subordinate Relationship (2015, unknown): “Specifically, the LMX and leadership literatures are beginning to examine managers’ and subordinates’ identities as key variables in managersubordinate relationships (e.g., Chang & Johnson, 2010; Jackson & Johnson, 2012; Leroy et al., 2012).”
Leadership and followership identity processes: A multilevel review ☆ (2017, background): “Jackson and Johnson (2012) also attempted to cast light on the leader-follower identity interplay.”