Leader–member exchange differentiation and team creativity: An investigation of nonlinearity

Although substantial knowledge regarding the antecedents and outcomes of leader–member exchange (LMX) differentiation has been accumulated, numerous questions related to this topic remain underexplored. To enhance the understanding of LMX differentiation and team-focused outcomes, this study proposed that LMX differentiation has a curvilinear relationship with team creativity and that team LMX quality (represented by the LMX median in this study) moderates the association between these two variables. An investigation based on 59 teams from multiple Chinese companies was conducted. The results indicated that LMX differentiation has an inverted U-shaped relationship with team creativity, and LMX median moderates the inverted U-shaped relationship. Specifically, for teams with a low LMX median, the curvilinear relationship is stronger, whereas for teams with a high LMX median, the slope of the curve becomes nearly flat, thus losing the inverted-U effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are outlined.