Inside the Leader-Member ""Double-Interact"": A Temporal Theory of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX)

In this study we conceptualize the process of leader-member exchange (LMX), with the leader-member ‘double-interact’ at its core. We take a dynamic systems approach and build on recent insights from personality dynamics research (e.g., Sosnowska, Kuppens, De Fruyt, & Hofmans, 2019) and interpersonal theory (e.g., Hopwood et al., 2018) to capture and understand the patterns of interpersonal behavior in the leader-member dyad. We dissect the emergent pattern of interpersonal behavior and show how these different patterns influence the quality and sustainability of the leader-member relationship. Next, we explain how this leads to four general LMX- development scenarios that differ in their quality and sustainability. Our temporal theory contributes to the literature by capturing and explaining the moment-to-moment interpersonal behavior dynamics in the leader-member dyad, incorporating trait-perspectives, behavioral-perspectives, LMX theory, and power structures into a unified model, thereby bridging largely disconnected fields within leadership research (Avolio, 2007), and explain how LMX develops over longer time-periods. As such, we present a forward-looking theory which directs (rather than follows) methodological developments and provides conceptual insight in the dynamic interpersonal process between leader and follower.