Attributional conflict between managers and subordinates: An investigation of leader‐member exchange effects
研究了141对管理者-下属配对中，领导-成员交换质量如何影响双方对下属忠诚、情感和贡献的归因差异，以及这种归因冲突与下属工作满意度、公平感和离职意向的关系。
Abstract The present study investigated the discrepancies, or conflict, between the attributions of leaders and members as a function of LMX quality and explored the relation between attributional conflict and subordinate job satisfaction, perceptions of equity, and turnover intentions. Data for the study were provided by 141 supervisor‐subordinate dyads from the managerial ranks of a large manufacturing organization. Both parties of the dyad made attributions for subordinate loyalty, affect, and contributions, member behaviors identified as critical in previous LMX research. Limited support emerged for the hypothesis that attributional conflict would be greater in dyads where subordinates reported lower rather than higher LMX quality. Findings suggested that attributional discrepencies are due, in part, to the tendency of leaders to make more favorable attributions for subordinates reporting higher LMX quality than for subordinates reporting lower LMX quality. Results also revealed that, while attributional conflict was negatively related to subordinate satisfaction and perceptions of equity and positively related to turnover intentions, attributional conflict did not predict subordinate work outcomes when the effects of LMX quality were controlled. Implications of these findings were discussed.