Drawing on social hierarchy theory, we develop a contingency model of leader–member exchange (LMX) differentiation in which LMX differentiation is positively and negatively related to group cooperation and group social undermining, respectively, when it is based on the group members’ performance, but the relations are reversed (i.e., negative and positive, respectively) when it stems from a leader's personal liking of the members. In addition, we propose that the moderating effects of the performance and personal liking bases of LMX differentiation are magnified by the levels of reward interdependence. Specifically, under a high (vs. low) level of reward interdependence, LMX differentiation based on performance more strongly relates to high group cooperation and low group social undermining, whereas LMX differentiation with a personal liking basis is more likely to decrease group cooperation and increase group social undermining. Group cooperation and social undermining are then hypothesized to convey the three‐way interactive effects of LMX differentiation, its two bases, and reward interdependence on subsequent group performance. Analyses of data from 328 sales groups of a large retailer support the core part of our contingency model of LMX differentiation.

中文翻译：

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领导者与成员之间的交流差异化改善工作组的职能时：差异化基础和奖励相互依存的共同作用

利用社会等级理论，我们建立了领导者-成员交换（LMX）差异性的权变模型，其中，当LMX差异基于群体成员的绩效时，其分别与群体合作和群体社会破坏正负相关，但是，由于领导者对成员的个人喜好，这种关系是相反的（即分别为消极和积极）。此外，我们建议，奖励相互依赖的水平会放大LMX的性能和个人喜好基础的调节作用。具体而言，在奖励相互依存程度较高（相对较低）的情况下，基于绩效的LMX差异与高度群体合作和较低群体社会破坏力之间的联系更为紧密，而基于个人喜好的LMX差异化更有可能减少小组合作并增加小组社交破坏力。然后假设小组合作和社会破坏会传达LMX分化，其两个基础的三向互动效应，并奖励对后续小组绩效的相互依赖性。一家大型零售商的328个销售组的数据分析支持了我们的LMX差异应变模型的核心部分。