The effect of leader personality on follower behaviour: The mediating role of leader-member exchange
Leadership & Organization Development Journal
ISSN: 0143-7739
Article publication date: 18 September 2017
Issue publication date: 23 February 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of the leader-member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between leader personality and follower attitudes and behaviours, including task performance, satisfaction with the leader and organisational citizenship behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting a multifaceted perspective to examine the relationships among the research variables, data were collected from 67 leaders and 372 followers. To test the hypotheses, hierarchical linear modelling analyses were conducted.
Findings
The results indicate that leader extraversion is positively related to follower task performance and that leader agreeableness is positively related to follower organisational citizenship behaviour and satisfaction with leaders. Moreover, the results indicate that the quality of the LMX relationship partially mediated the positive relationship between leader extraversion and follower task performance and fully mediated the relationship between leader agreeableness and satisfaction with leader and organisational citizenship behaviour.
Practical implications
The findings of this study support the mediating role of the LMX relationship between leader personality and follower attitudes and behaviours. Hence, it is worthwhile to examine the effects of leader personality in an organisational context.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is that it focusses on the integration of leader personality, LMX, and follower attitudes and behaviours in a single study, providing a model that indicates the mediating role of LMX in the relationship between leader personality and follower attitudes and behaviours.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors greatly thank the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions. This paper is partly based on the first author’s PhD thesis. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of National Defense or the Turkish Armed Forces.
Citation
Kahya, M. and Şahin, F. (2018), "The effect of leader personality on follower behaviour: The mediating role of leader-member exchange", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 39 No. 1, pp. 14-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-08-2016-0206
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited