Avoiding or embracing social relationships? A conservation of resources perspective of leader narcissism, leader–member exchange differentiation, and follower voice

• Author: Peter D. Harms,Lei Huang,Dina V. Krasikova
• Date: 01 January 2020
• Published date: 01 January 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.2423

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Avoiding or embracing social relationships? A conservation of

resources perspective of leader narcissism, leader–member

exchange differentiation, and follower voice

Lei Huang

1

| Dina V. Krasikova

2

| Peter D. Harms

3

1

Department of Management, Raymond J.

Harbert College of Business, Auburn

University, Auburn, Alabama, U.S.A.

2

Department of Management, College of

Business, University of Texas at San Antonio,

San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.

3

Department of Management, Culverhouse

College of Commerce, University of Alabama,

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S.A.

Correspondence

Lei Huang, Department of Management,

Raymond J. Harbert College of Business,

Auburn University, Auburn, AL, U.S.A.

Email: lhuangmgmt@auburn.edu

Summary

In this study, we draw from the conservation of resources theory and the narcissism

literature to examine why and when narcissistic leaders develop and maintain differ-

entiated social relationships with followers in a group setting, therefore demotivating

follower voice. Using data from 457 employees and their 95 supervisors working at a

large Chinese consulting company, we tested and found support for our hypotheses

that leader narcissism had a negative direct effect on employee voice, as well as a

negative indirect effect on voice via group-level leader–member exchange (LMX)

differentiation. Our findings further showed that leaders' upward exchange, leader–

leader exchange (LLX), with their own supervisor moderated the negative indirect

effect of narcissism on voice such that this negative indirect effect was stronger in

the presence of low leader LLX but turned nonsignificant in the presence of high

leader LLX. Theoretical and practical implications of our research are discussed. Limi-

tations and directions for future research are also offered.

KEYWORDS

leader-leader exchange, leader narcissism, LMX differentiation, voice

1|INTRODUCTION

Narcissists, individuals with a heightened sense of self-importance,

extreme self-confidence, and an excessive need for admiration from

others (Emmons, 1987; Paulhus & Williams, 2002; Raskin, Novacek, &

Hogan, 1991), all too often loom large in terms of their impact on the

lives of others. In the organizational research, increasing attention has

been paid to the largely detrimental impact of narcissistic leaders on

follower outcomes (Judge, Piccolo, & Kosalka, 2009; Resick, Whitman,

Weingarden, & Hiller, 2009). Although narcissistic leaders are some-

times perceived as charismatic or even charming (Galvin, Waldman, &

Balthazard, 2010; Rosenthal & Pittinsky, 2006), they frequently fail to

develop and maintain social relationships with their followers (Ong,

Roberts, Arthur, Woodman, & Akehurst, 2016). That said, an emergent

stream of organizational scholarship has suggested that there are

instances when narcissistic leaders deviate from their self-centered

tendencies by involving their followers in decision-making (Carnevale,

Huang, & Harms, 2018) or even showing a humble attitude (Owens,

Wallace, & Waldman, 2015). Nonetheless, it remains theoretically

underdeveloped and empirically underexplored as to why and when

such deviation is more likely to occur. Consequently, it is important to

theoretically and empirically examine reasons why narcissistic leaders

may behave in a way counter to their narcissistic tendencies, and the

boundary conditions under which narcissistic leaders may diverge

from their trait-consistent behavioral patterns while interacting with

followers.

In order to reconcile these conflicting accounts of the effects of

leader narcissism, we draw from the conservation of resources (COR)

theory (Hobfoll, 1989) and the narcissism literature to propose a mod-

erated mediation model delineating why and under what conditions

narcissistic leaders develop highly differentiated social relationships

with their followers in a group setting and further impact follower

outcomes. COR theory posits that individuals are motivated to con-

serve their limited resources or to acquire new resources in order to

Received: 13 January 2017 Revised: 1 November 2019 Accepted: 8 December 2019

DOI: 10.1002/job.2423

J Organ Behav. 2020;41:77–92. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/job © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 77

protect themselves against potential threat of resource loss (Hobfoll,

1989). Drawing from COR theory, we argue that due to their over-

whelming concern with self-interest, narcissistic leaders may choose

to conserve their limited resources (i.e., resource conservation), such

as time and energy, by choosing to interact with selected followers

instead of engaging all of their followers equally. We also argue that

narcissistic leaders may seek to acquire resources (i.e., resource acqui-

sition) that are valuable to them by building relationships with those

followers who will provide such resources. For instance, they may

prefer interacting with the “in-group”followers to hear more praise

and feed their inflated ego. This is consistent with writings in the nar-

cissism literature such that narcissistic individuals tend to selectively

interact with people who can reinforce their grandiose self-image

(Campbell & Campbell, 2009). Therefore, we expect that narcissistic

leaders are more likely to create a differentiated relational environ-

ment that is manifested in higher level of leader–member exchange

(LMX) differentiation, a process by which leaders and followers

engage in differing types of exchange patterns to form relationships

that vary in quality (Liden, Erdogan, Wayne, & Sparrowe, 2006).

We further propose that this relational environment, character-

ized by higher level of LMX differentiation, will demotivate follower

voice, which refers to employees speaking up with improvement-

oriented ideas and suggestions (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998). We chose

to focus on voice, which is challenging in nature (Morrison, 2011), as a

follower outcome because it reflects followers' assessment of the

social relational environment created by the leader (Burris, Detert, &

Chiaburu, 2008). Previous research has found that leader narcissism

negatively influences follower voice via follower's threatened

organization-based self-esteem (OBSE; Carnevale et al., 2018). In the

present study, we propose LMX differentiation as another important

mediating mechanism linking leader narcissism and follower voice.

Given that narcissistic leaders have strong egos and demand obedi-

ence (Maccoby, 2000), we argue that narcissistic leaders are less likely

to be receptive to follower voice and therefore should suppress

follower voice directly.

We also expect an indirect effect of leader narcissism on follower

voice via LMX differentiation, such that in the context of high LMX

differentiation, those in high-LMX relationships are more likely to

refrain from speaking up but instead defer to their narcissistic leader

to feed his/her strong ego, whereas those in low-LMX relationships

are less likely to speak up due to the lack of felt obligation to contrib-

ute or fear of harmful consequences.

Drawing from COR theory (Hobfoll, 1989), we also argue that the

salience of the threat of potential resource loss will influence how

narcissistic leaders choose to develop relationships with their fol-

lowers. Specifically, we propose that the negative indirect effect of

leader narcissism on follower voice via LMX differentiation is stronger

when narcissistic leaders are threatened by their poor upward

exchange relationships with their own superior and thus have to rely

more on their relationships with their followers. That is, the way nar-

cissistic leaders develop relationships with followers depends on a

broader relational context that also involves the upward social

exchange between leaders and their superior (i.e., leader–leader

exchange, LLX; Tangirala, Green, & Ramanujam, 2007). This upward

exchange relationship offers a larger context where leaders are

influenced by not only the way they connect with their followers, but

also the benefits or losses they acquire in relationships with their own

superior (Henderson, Liden, Glibkowski, & Chaudhry, 2009; Herdman,

Yang, & Arthur, 2017; Tangirala et al., 2007; Zhou, Wang, Chen, & Shi,

2012). Thus, we argue that when narcissistic leaders have low (vs.

high) LLX with their superior and thus are lacking access to resources

that come with higher LLX, they are more likely to attempt to com-

pensate for this resource loss by seeking support from followers in

the group who can contribute to their leadership success. This is con-

sistent with the COR literature, which suggests that individuals are

motivated to acquire resources to reinforce their status of resource

possession (Halbesleben, Harvey, & Bolino, 2009).

Our study makes three contributions to narcissism, leadership,

and voice literatures. First, while the mechanisms underlying the

impact of leader narcissism on employee outcomes are theoretically

underdeveloped and frequently empirically insufficient, we draw from

the COR perspective (Hobfoll, 1989) and the narcissism literature to

theoretically explore and empirically test a mediating mechanism (i.e.,

LMX differentiation) linking leader narcissism with follower voice.

Second, we answer the call from Morrison (2011) to further examine

how leader characteristics, other than the commonly studied leader

openness (Detert & Burris, 2007), play a role in influencing employee

voice. By so doing, our study also answers the call from Farh and

Chen (2014) to examine the “dark side”of leader influence on

employee voice, thereby helping shed light on how leaders suppress

follower voice, a topic largely overlooked in the existing voice litera-

ture. Our study thus further helps to clarify the nomological network

of leader-related antecedents of voice. Finally, although recent

research has suggested that narcissistic leaders may demonstrate

behaviors different from their trait-consistent behavioral patterns

(Carnevale et al., 2018; Owens et al., 2015), our study is among the

first to look into why and when such divergence happens by investi-

gating narcissistic leaders' upward social exchange with their own

superior as an important boundary condition. We present our

research model in Figure 1.

2|THE NATURE OF LEADER NARCISSISM

Unlike more favorable leader characteristics (e.g., extraversion, agree-

ableness), which help foster productive interpersonal relationships,

the characteristics associated with narcissistic leaders are typically

viewed in a negative light. For example, narcissistic leaders tend to be

arrogant with strong feelings of entitlement and frequently react

harshly when they perceive that their authority has been challenged

(Grijalva & Harms, 2014; Judge et al., 2009; Maccoby, 2000; Raskin et

al., 1991; Spain, Harms, & LeBreton, 2014). They also frequently

attempt to manipulate their followers' attitudes and behaviors,

treating them as pawns or instruments to be used for acquiring

resources that could help achieve their success (Morf & Rhodewalt,

2001; O’Reilly, Doerr, Caldwell, & Chatman, 2014).

HUANG ET AL.

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