Bringing contribution–receipt (im)balance to team–member exchange research: a moderated mediation model

Liu, Xin, Zhang, Yucheng, Chen, Wansi, Li, Wen‐dong and Ni, Dan (2023) Bringing contribution–receipt (im)balance to team–member exchange research: a moderated mediation model. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 44 (4), 621-642. (doi:10.1002/job.2686).

Abstract

While emerging studies pay much attention to the team–member exchange (TMX) relationship, they have produced mixed findings on TMX consequences. To clarify such inconsistencies, our research highlights the importance of distinguishing TMX contribution from TMX receipt and investigates the influence of TMX contribution–receipt (im)balance. Specifically, drawing upon conservation of resources (COR) theory and the TMX literature, we examine the impacts of TMX contribution–receipt (im)balance on emotional exhaustion and subsequently on silence. We also investigate the moderating role of authoritarian leadership in the aforementioned mediation model. Our pilot study demonstrated sufficient distinction between TMX contribution and TMX receipt scales. Two independent field studies consistently showed that compared with imbalanced situations, TMX contribution–receipt balance was associated with lower emotional exhaustion. In balanced situations, emotional exhaustion was lower when the balance was at a high rather than a low level (Study 1). Regarding imbalanced scenarios, a high contribution–low receipt condition was related to greater emotional exhaustion than a low contribution–high receipt condition (Study 2). Both studies also showed that the indirect effect of TMX contribution–receipt (im)balance on silence through emotional exhaustion was more pronounced when authoritarian leadership was high rather than low.

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Contributors

Author: Yucheng Zhang

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