Kenneth J. Harris

Too Much of a Good Thing: The Curvilinear Effect of Leader-Member Exchange on Stress

Organizational researchers have given considerable attention to the construct of leader-member exchange (LMX). Numerous studies have empirically supported the negative correlations between LMX relationships and unwanted individual outcomes, including stress. However, in the present study, the authors investigated whether the relationship is best represented as linear or curvilinear. The authors tested their research hypothesis in two organizational samples of 120 and 402 employees, respectively, and found support for the nonlinear relationship in both samples. The authors described strengths, limitations, practical implications, and directions for future research.

Core self-evaluations and job performance: the role of the perceived work environment.

Using trait activation theory as a framework, the authors examined the moderating role of two situational variables-perceptions of organizational politics and perceptions of leader effectiveness-on the relationship between core self-evaluations and job performance. Results from two samples (N = 137 and N = 226) indicate that employee perceptions of their work environment moderated the relationship between their core self-evaluations and supervisor ratings of their performance. In particular, those with higher core self-evaluations received higher performance ratings in environments perceived as favorable than in environments perceived as unfavorable.

A Test of Competing Models of the Relationships Among Perceptions of Organizational Politics, Perceived Organizational Support, and Individual Outcomes

The authors aimed to distinguish between perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) and perceived organizational support (POS). Previous research has shown that these two constructs are related, and whereas some researchers have suggested that POS mediates the relationships between POPs and outcomes (e.g., M. C. Andrews & K. M. Kacmar, 2001; R. Cropanzano, J. C. Howes, A. A. Grandey, & P. Toth, 1997), others have claimed that POPs mediate the relationships between POS and outcomes (e.g., G. R. Ferris, G. S. Russ, & P. M. Fandt, 1989). The authors investigated these competing models in an organizational sample of 418 employees from a water-management-district office. Results showed that POPs and POS were related to each other and to 5 outcomes: (a) job satisfaction, (b) pay satisfaction, (c) job strains, (d) role conflicts, and (e) turnover intentions. Results also indicated that POS fully mediated 3 of the 5 relationships between POPs and outcomes and partially mediated the other 2.

Career Success Implications of Political Skill

The authors investigated the individual characteristic of political skill and its relation to 5 different career-related outcomes (total compensation, promotions, career satisfaction, life satisfaction, and perceived external job mobility). They examined data obtained from a sample of 191 employees working a wide range of occupations. The results reveal that political skill is associated with 4 of the 5 outcomes. In addition, they examined the 4 dimensions of political skill and found that the networking ability dimension dominates the relations with the examined outcomes. The authors discuss practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research.

LMX, Context Perceptions, and Performance: An Uncertainty Management Perspective

This study investigates the role of leader—member exchange in moderating the effects of perceptions of organizational justice and politics on job performance. In contrast to previous research, which has relied on social exchange theory to explain these relationships, the current study uses uncertainty management theory to propose that relationships between employee perceptions of the context (e.g., perceptions of organizational politics, procedural justice, and distributive justice) and performance are stronger for employees who have lower quality leader—member exchange relationships with their supervisors. Analysis of data from a sample of 157 government employees and their supervisors provided partial support for the three hypothesized interactions and indicated that leaders play an important role in determining how employees respond to their perceptions of politics and justice and that neither social exchange theory nor uncertainty management theory fully explained our results. Theoretical and practical implications of our findings as well as directions for future research are provided.

Frustration-based outcomes of entitlement and the influence of supervisor communication

Psychological entitlement is a relatively stable tendency toward inflated self-perceptions and unrealistic expectations concerning praise and rewards. This study investigates two behavioral outcomes of entitlement — political behavior and co-worker abuse — and the mediating role of job-related frustration. We also examine the impact of supervisor communication (i.e. evaluative and informative communication) on the relationship between psychological entitlement and frustration. Results of a study of 223 employees suggested that entitlement was positively associated with both political behavior and co-worker abuse, and that frustration partially or fully mediated both relationships. Additionally, results suggested that relatively high levels of supervisor communication reduced job frustration for less-entitled employees but exacerbated the frustration reported by those with stronger entitlement perceptions.

An Investigation of Abusive Supervision, Vicarious Abusive Supervision, and Their Joint Impacts

ABSTRACT Recent work has begun to look at the impact of abusive supervision, a dysfunctional workplace behavior, on employee outcomes. This study extends this line of research by examining vicarious abusive supervision (abuse not directly experienced, but rumors about it or hearing about it, that is “experienced vicariously”). In particular, this research effort investigates whether vicarious abuse has effects above and beyond those accounted for by personally experienced abusive supervision on the outcomes of job frustration, coworker abuse, and perceived organizational support. Our sample is composed of 233 workers from a large variety of organizations. Results reveal that both personally experienced and vicarious abuse have negative impacts and these effects are heightened when both forms of abusive supervision are present. Practical and theoretical implications, as well as directions for future research, are offered.

An Examination of Temporal Variables and Relationship Quality on Promotability Ratings

Previous research has shown the positive impact of relationship quality on promotability ratings and inconsistent results for temporal variables and these same ratings. The authors integrated these findings by examining the joint impact of supervisor-subordinate relationship quality and temporal variables (measured with three types of tenure: relationship, job, and organizational) on supervisor promotability ratings. Using a matched set of 180 supervisor-subordinate dyads, the results supported the interactive effects of time as measured by organizational and relational tenure with relationship quality, whereas job tenure had no impact. Furthermore, the findings suggested that relationship tenure had the strongest impact on the relationship quality-promotability relationship. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

P = f (Conscientiousness × Ability): Examining the Facets of Conscientiousness

We posited that the form of the joint effects of motivation and ability in traditional performance models are interactive because motivation triggers the use of energy resources required to deploy ability at work. Moreover, we posited that achievement might best represent motivation compared to five other facets of Conscientiousness or global Conscientiousness. In two samples of customer service representatives, achievement interacted with general mental ability (GMA) in predicting task performance, whereas global Conscientiousness and the other five facets did not. This suggests that researchers examining the motivational aspects of Conscientiousness might uncover a more consistent pattern of results for task performance if they focus on the achievement facet. Furthermore, managers might see the highest levels of task performance in certain contexts when hiring individuals based on both achievement and GMA.

Who Abuses Their Coworkers? An Examination of Personality and Situational Variables

ABSTRACT This study examines predictors of abusive employee behavior toward coworkers. We examined two personality variables, negative affectivity and political skill, and two situational relationship variables—team member exchange and coworker relationship conflict. We tested our hypotheses with data obtained from a sample of 232 working employees. We found that political skill and team member exchange were negatively related to coworker abuse, whereas negative affectivity and relationship conflict were positively related. Additionally, we found statistical support for the negative affectivity-relationship conflict, political skill-team member exchange, and political skill-relationship conflict interactions. Practical implications and directions for future research are provided.