LMXSC Elicits Hubristic Pride and Social Undermining in Individuals with High Trait Dominance

Benjamin A. Korman; Christian Tröster; Steffen R. Giessner

doi:10.1111/joms.12983

LMXSC Elicits Hubristic Pride and Social Undermining in Individuals with High Trait Dominance

Benjamin A. Korman^*, Christian Tröster, Steffen R. Giessner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Organisation and Personnel Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

2 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

A consensus in the literature has converged on the idea that one's perceptions of being treated better by a leader (compared with one's coworkers' treatment by the same leader) motivate prosocial behaviour. Drawing on current theory of hubristic pride and its evolutionary role in status maintenance, we challenge this consensus by proposing that favourable, downward social comparisons of leader-member exchange (i.e., leader-member exchange social comparisons; LMXSC) can also lead to social undermining. Specifically, we argue that, in individuals with high trait dominance, LMXSC triggers hubristic pride, which, in turn, motivates social undermining. Results from two experiments and a longitudinal field study support this idea. In sum, our work shifts the consensus in LMXSC theory by showing when and why high LMXSC can motivate negative coworker-directed behaviour, and it also offers practical help to organizational leaders dealing with the ethical decision of if, and when, to preferentially treat individual team members.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2662-2693
Number of pages	32
Journal	Journal of Management Studies
Volume	61
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12983
Publication status	Published - 8 Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors disclose receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) grant TR 1398/1‐1 (PI: Tröster).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Management Studies published by Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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J Management Studies - 2023 - Korman - LMXSC Elicits Hubristic Pride and Social Undermining in Individuals with High TraitFinal published version, 555 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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title = "LMXSC Elicits Hubristic Pride and Social Undermining in Individuals with High Trait Dominance",

abstract = "A consensus in the literature has converged on the idea that one's perceptions of being treated better by a leader (compared with one's coworkers' treatment by the same leader) motivate prosocial behaviour. Drawing on current theory of hubristic pride and its evolutionary role in status maintenance, we challenge this consensus by proposing that favourable, downward social comparisons of leader-member exchange (i.e., leader-member exchange social comparisons; LMXSC) can also lead to social undermining. Specifically, we argue that, in individuals with high trait dominance, LMXSC triggers hubristic pride, which, in turn, motivates social undermining. Results from two experiments and a longitudinal field study support this idea. In sum, our work shifts the consensus in LMXSC theory by showing when and why high LMXSC can motivate negative coworker-directed behaviour, and it also offers practical help to organizational leaders dealing with the ethical decision of if, and when, to preferentially treat individual team members.",

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note = "Funding Information: The authors disclose receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) grant TR 1398/1‐1 (PI: Tr{\"o}ster). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Journal of Management Studies published by Society for the Advancement of Management Studies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.",

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LMXSC Elicits Hubristic Pride and Social Undermining in Individuals with High Trait Dominance

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