Gains and Losses: Week-To-Week Changes in Leader–Follower Relationships

Although the importance of leader-follower relationships in the workplace is widely acknowledged, the impact of changes in such relationships has not been adequately examined in the literature. Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory and research suggest that leader-follower relationships develop, mature, and then stabilize. Integrating recent work finding important and impactful within-individual variations in what was thought to be relatively unvarying relationships, we theorize that leader-follower relationships (like other types of linkages), are not only differentiated (varying between people), but also fluctuate across time periods (varying within people). We also discuss how people can understand their relationships better by comparing them to a relevant and proximal referent; this underlines how prior levels of LMX serve as a lens by which followers evaluate their current LMX. Across two studies, we discuss how comparing this week’s LMX to last week’s LMX can signal improvement (i.e., gains) or deterioration (i.e., losses) in the relationship, with differential implications for positive and negative affect. We also provide additional insights into LMX fluctuations by contrasting within- and between-individual variance in established and newly founded relationships and by examining those incidents that are more likely to influence LMX in a given week.