Leader-member exchange meta-analysis
Copyright 1997 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
0021-9010/97/S3.00
Journal of Applied Psychology
1997, Vol. 82. No. 6, 827-844
Meta-Analytic Review of Leader-Member Exchange Theory:
Correlates and Construct Issues
Charlotte R. Gerstner and David V. Day
The Pennsylvania State University
The leader-member exchange (LMX) literature is reviewed using meta-analysis. Relationships between LMX and its correlates are examined, as are issues related to the
LMX construct, including measurement and leader-member agreement. Results suggest significant relationships between LMX and job performance, satisfaction with supervision, overall satisfaction, commitment, role conflict, role clarity, member competence, and turnover intentions. The relationship between LMX and actual turnover was not significant. Leader and member LMX perceptions were only moderately related. Partial support was found for measurement instrument and perspective (i.e., leader vs. member) as moderators of the relationships between LMX and its correlates. Meta-analysis showed that the LMX7 (7-item LMX) measure has the soundest psychometric properties of all instruments and that LMX is congruent with numerous empirical relationships associated with transformational leadership.
since first proposed, this basic unit of analysis has remained unchanged.
Within the broad area of organizational leadership, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory has evolved into one of the more interesting and useful approaches for studying hypothesized linkages between leadership processes and outcomes. First proposed by Graeri and colleagues (Dansereau, Cashman, & Graen, 1973; Dansereau, Graen, & Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen & Cashman, 1975), LMX is distinguished from other leadership theories by its focus on the dyadic relationship between a leader and a member. Unlike traditional theories that seek to explain leadership as a function of personal characteristics of the leader,
0021-9010/97/S3.00
Journal of Applied Psychology
1997, Vol. 82. No. 6, 827-844
Meta-Analytic Review of Leader-Member Exchange Theory:
Correlates and Construct Issues
Charlotte R. Gerstner and David V. Day
The Pennsylvania State University
The leader-member exchange (LMX) literature is reviewed using meta-analysis. Relationships between LMX and its correlates are examined, as are issues related to the
LMX construct, including measurement and leader-member agreement. Results suggest significant relationships between LMX and job performance, satisfaction with supervision, overall satisfaction, commitment, role conflict, role clarity, member competence, and turnover intentions. The relationship between LMX and actual turnover was not significant. Leader and member LMX perceptions were only moderately related. Partial support was found for measurement instrument and perspective (i.e., leader vs. member) as moderators of the relationships between LMX and its correlates. Meta-analysis showed that the LMX7 (7-item LMX) measure has the soundest psychometric properties of all instruments and that LMX is congruent with numerous empirical relationships associated with transformational leadership.
since first proposed, this basic unit of analysis has remained unchanged.
Within the broad area of organizational leadership, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory has evolved into one of the more interesting and useful approaches for studying hypothesized linkages between leadership processes and outcomes. First proposed by Graeri and colleagues (Dansereau, Cashman, & Graen, 1973; Dansereau, Graen, & Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen & Cashman, 1975), LMX is distinguished from other leadership theories by its focus on the dyadic relationship between a leader and a member. Unlike traditional theories that seek to explain leadership as a function of personal characteristics of the leader,
Citations: Index to identify articles that referenced either of the seminal LMX articles (i.e., Dansereau et al., 1975; Graen & Cashman, 1975) identified seven different versions of the LMX scales developed by Graen and colleagues, two additional LMX measures (Liden & Maslyn, in press; Schriesheim et al., 1992), and several modified versions of these scales. The LMX7 scale (Qraen, Novak, & Sommerkamp, 1982) is by far the most frequently research before the specific LMX scales were developed (e.g., Graen, Dansereau, Minami, & Cashman, 1973) studies that used the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass, 1985) because these relationships are not consistently dyadic in nature and have recently been reviewed by Lowe, Kroeck, and Sivasubramaniam (1996) sales in dollars (e.g., Graen, Novak, & Sommerkamp, 1982; Tanner & Castleberry, 1990). (1979). Lirtzman(1970).