A Person-Centered Perspective on the Combined Effects of Global and Specific LMX Components for Employees

摘要

The present study examines how the different dimensions of leader-member exchange (LMX) combine within different profiles of workers (N = 634). This research also documents the relations between LMX profiles and a series of demographic characteristics (gender, age, level of education, work schedule, organizational tenure, and tenure in the current position) and outcomes (affective commitment, well-being, emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and perceived health). Latent profile analyses (LPA) revealed six profiles of employees defined based on their global and specific (loyalty, affect, contribution, and professional respect) levels of LMX: Low Exchange, Moderate Exchange with Low Affect, Normative, Moderately Low Exchange with High Loyalty and Low Respect, Moderate Exchange with High Affect and Low Respect, and Moderate Exchange with Low Loyalty and High Respect. Results also showed the least desirable levels on all outcomes to be associated with the Low Exchange profile, with most comparisons being statistically significant. In addition, the proportion of females was higher in the Low Exchange profile than in the Moderate Exchange with High Affect and Low Respect profile, while age and organizational tenure were unrelated to the likelihood of membership in any of the profiles.