Leader–member exchange and strain: a study of job demands and role status

• Author: Hannah Hesselgreaves,Dora Scholarios
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12042
• Published date: 01 November 2014
• Date: 01 November 2014

Leader–member exchange and strain: a study of

job demands and role status

Hannah Hesselgreaves, Centre for Medical Education Research, School of Medicine

Pharmacy and Health, Durham University

Dora Scholarios, Department of Human Resource Management, University

of Strathclyde

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 24, no 4, 2014, pages 459–478

High-quality supervisor–subordinate relationships, measured as leader–member exchange (LMX), can

either reduce or intensify subordinates’ job strain. We examined LMX effects on job demands and strain

in junior and senior role nursing dyads in a sample of five UK hospitals. LMX reduced job demands and

strain for junior subordinates, but for senior subordinates both low- and high-quality LMX lead to greater

strain, indicating a curvilinear relationship between LMX and strain. We found no buffering effectof LMX

between job demands and strain. The article discusses the role of supervisors in controlling potential job

stressors for employees and implications for stress management in large, complex workplaces.

Contact: Hannah Hesselgreaves, Centre for Medical Education Research, School of Medicine

Pharmacy and Health, Durham University, Durham DH1 1TA, UK. Email: h.c.hesselgreaves@

durham.ac.uk

INTRODUCTION

This article examines the effect of the supervisor–subordinate relationship, conceptualised

as leader–member exchange (LMX), on employees’ experiences of job strain within

nursing. Drives for greater public sector efficiency and effectiveness (Burke et al., 2013)

have resulted in the need to manage increasing workload with fewer staff and often low

employee morale (Callaghan, 2003). Similarly, the professionalised nursing management role

(Law and Aranda, 2010) has been required to deal with conflicting demands, such as mentoring

colleagues while responding to managerialist, organisational imperatives (Bolton, 2003).

Nursing, therefore, manifests some of the complexities of supervisory relationships, the need to

manage increasing job demands and high employee strain.

Most LMX research has focused on the positive attitudinal and performance outcomes of

high-quality supervisor–subordinate relationships and their potential for minimising negative

experiences; for example, reducing work demands and exhaustion (Halbesleben, 2006), easing

role stressors (Nelson et al., 1998; Tordera et al., 2008) and reducing burnout (Thomas and

Lankau, 2009). These findings are consistent with job demands–resource (JD–R) theory

(Demerouti et al., 2001) where social support within a high-quality LMX relationship acts as a

resource that reduces high job demands and their consequences for employees.

High LMX, however, may also be a source of additional responsibilities and accountabilities

(Sherman, 2002). In line with the principles of role making (Dansereau et al., 1975), followers’

roles become extended through increased trust and delegation. Some findings suggest a

curvilinear relationship between LMX and stress (Hochwarter, 2005; Harris and Kacmar, 2006),

and with certain role stressors, such as conflict and overload (Jian, 2014), implying negative

consequences for those in higher-quality relationships. There have been few studies designed

to explain this phenomenon, and Harris and Kacmar (2006), in particular, encourage further

research.

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doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12042

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 24 NO 4, 2014 459

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Please cite this article in press as: Hesselgreaves, H. and Scholarios, D. (2014) ‘Leader–member exchange and strain: a study of job demands and

role status’. Human Resource Management Journal 24: 4, 459–478.

The present study addresses this gap by comparing LMX relationships and the effects on job

strain for two different nursing roles that represent contrasting job demands and supervisory

challenges. The nursing context provides a valuable exemplar of the complexities of LMX for

understanding stress. The profession’s hierarchical nature comprises varied roles, from menial

tasks with low levels of responsibility and control but clear role boundaries, to clinical and

managerial hybrid roles at senior levels, consisting of complex role boundaries and role

multiplicity (Bolton, 2003; Law and Aranda, 2010; Lizarondo et al., 2010). It is these distinctions

in seniority that we draw upon to distinguish differential effects of job demands in nursing

dyads. The article establishes and tests hypotheses that LMX’s positive effects on reducing job

demands and strain apply only for junior nursing roles. Those in senior roles experience

different demands and draw on different resources from the supervisor.

The article begins by elaborating on the rationale for the role distinctions in nursing. It then

develops hypotheses on the effects of LMX separately for these two roles: first, proposing that

LMX fulfils its resource function for junior roles by reducing job demands, and second, that

LMX becomes a source of higher demands and strain rather than a resource for senior positions

(see Figure 1). These are then tested in a study contrasting job stressors, LMX and strain for a

sample of nursing dyads (employees and their supervisors) in five UK National Health Service

(NHS) hospitals.

As well as contributing to the understanding of stress in nursing, the study complements the

emerging perspective of LMX quality as a source of job strain. The findings suggest dyad status

as an explanatory factor requiring further research and have implications for supervision and

stress management within public sector organisations.

DEMANDS IN NURSING

Job demands are defined as work experiences that require physical or mental effort and may

act as job stressors with physical or psychological costs (Demerouti et al., 2001). In nursing, job

demands are varied and complex (de Jonge et al., 1999), but there are some recognised

job-related stressors, such as the emotional content of the work (Hunter, 2005) and workload

(Jenkins and Elliott, 2004).

Demands vary by rank or role status (Shirom et al., 2008; Marom and Koslowsky, 2013).

A systematic review of nursing roles (Lizarondo et al., 2010) described the duties of assistant

‘support’ workers as restricted to supporting, administrating and maintaining the process

of direct care. Less-experienced nurses also tend to be assigned extra workload and

more unpleasant tasks (Lambert and Lambert, 2004). More senior staff roles involve

Figure 1 Research hypotheses

LMX Strain

Job demands

Hypothesis 3 (moderator)

Hypothesis 6 (no moderating effect)

Hypothesis 1 (-ve)

Hypothesis 4 (curvilinear)

Hypothesis 2/Hypothesis 5 (+ve)

Hypothesis 2 (-ve)

Hypothesis 5 (+ve)

Leader–member exchange and strain

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 24 NO 4, 2014460

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.