The present empirical investigation had a 3-fold purpose: (a) to cross-validate L. R. Offermann, J. K. Kennedy, and P. W. Wirtz's (1994) scale of Implicit Leadership Theories (ILTs) in several organizational settings and to further provide a shorter scale of ILTs in organizations; (b) to assess the generalizability of ILTs across different employee groups, and (c) to evaluate ILTs' change over time. Two independent samples were used for the scale validation (N1 = 500 and N2 = 439). A 6-factor structure (Sensitivity, Intelligence, Dedication, Dynamism, Tyranny, and Masculinity) was found to most accurately represent ELTs in organizational settings. Regarding the generalizability of ILTs, although the 6-factor structure was consistent across different employee groups, there was only partial support for total factorial invariance. Finally, evaluation of gamma, beta, and alpha change provided support for ILTs' stability over time.

The results of the present longitudinal study demonstrate the importance of implicit leadership theories (ILTs) for the quality of leader-member exchanges (LMX) and employees' organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and well-being. Results based on a sample of 439 employees who completed the study questionnaires at 2 time points showed that the closer employees perceived their actual manager's profile to be to the ILTs they endorsed, the better the quality of LMX. Results also indicated that the implicit-explicit leadership traits difference had indirect effects on employee attitudes and well-being. These findings were consistent across employee groups that differed in terms of job demand and the duration of manager-employee relation, but not in terms of motivation. Furthermore, crossed-lagged modeling analyses of the longitudinal data explored the possibility of reciprocal effects between implicit-explicit leadership traits difference and LMX and provided support for the initially hypothesized direction of causal effects.

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This paper reports a meta-analysis that examines the relation between Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) relationship quality and a multi-dimensional model of work performance (task, citizenship and counterproductive performance). The results show a positive relationship between LMX and task performance (146 samples, ρ= .30), citizenship performance (97 samples, ρ= .34) and negatively with counterproductive performance (19 samples, ρ= -.24). Of note, there was a positive relationship between LMX and objective task performance (20 samples, ρ = .24). Trust, motivation, empowerment and job satisfaction mediated the relationship between LMX and task and citizenship performance with trust in the leader having the largest effect. There was no difference due to LMX measurement instrument (e.g., LMX7, LMX-MDM). Overall, the relationship between LMX and performance was weaker when (i) measures were obtained from a different source or method and (ii) LMX was measured by the follower than the leader (with common source and method biased effects stronger for leader-rated LMX quality). Finally, there was evidence for LMX leading to task performance but not for reverse or reciprocal directions of effects.

Recent research has highlighted several job characteristics salient to employee well-being and behavior for which there are no adequate generally applicable measures. These include timing and method control, monitoring and problem-solving demand, and production responsibility. In this article, an attempt to develop measures of these constructs provided encouraging results. Confirmatory factor analyses applied to data from two samples of shop-floor employees showed a consistent fit to a common five-factor measurement model. Scales corresponding to each of the dimensions showed satisfactory internal and test-retest reliabilities. As expected, the scales also discriminated between employees in different jobs and employees working with contrasting technologies.