Purpose

Drawing on similarity-attraction hypothesis and generational gap literatures, this study aims to examine the impact of age difference in a leader–member dyad on leader–member exchange (LMX). The study hypothesized that relational age would impact the subordinates-reported LMX. However, given that leaders have structural power over subordinates and hence have mechanisms of interaction available to them, the age difference might not determine their perception of quality of LMX. The study also hypothesized that generation gap in values and beliefs leads to lack of trust, on the part of subordinates, which in turn might be the reason for poor quality of LMX.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 200 leader–member dyads from five organizations in the National Capital Region of India were used in this study. Data were collected via separate structured questionnaires for leaders and members, which comprised of standard scales of LMX and perceived trust, and demographics.

Findings

Hypotheses received substantial support from the data with a few exceptions. Only the loyalty dimension of perceived trust mediates the relationship between relational age and member perception of LMX.

Research limitations/implications

Results have implications for relational age and LMX interventions. However, the results are to be viewed in the light of members’ perspective. While this is a common practice in LMX research, it would be interesting to explore leaders’ trust and psychological reactions as well, for additional insights into leadership practice.

Originality/value

Limited work has been done to explore the impact of relational age on LMX, that too mediated by trust. An attempt has been made in this study to do so via leader–member dyads.

中文翻译：

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关系年龄和领导者与成员之间的交流：感知信任的中介作用

目的

本研究利用相似性吸引假说和世代相传文献，旨在研究年龄差异对领导者成员二分法对领导者成员交换（LMX）的影响。该研究假设关系年龄会影响下属报告的LMX。但是，鉴于领导者具有对下属的结构性权力，因此拥有对他们可用的互动机制，年龄差异可能不会决定他们对LMX质量的看法。这项研究还假设，价值观和信念的代沟会导致下属方面缺乏信任，这反过来可能是LMX质量低下的原因。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究共使用了来自印度国家首都地区五个组织的200个领导成员二元组。数据是通过针对领导者和成员的独立结构化问卷收集的，其中包括LMX和感知信任度的标准量表以及人口统计信息。

发现

假设得到了数据的实质性支持，但有一些例外。只有感知到的信任的忠诚度维度会介导关系年龄和LMX成员感知之间的关系。

研究局限/意义

结果对关系年龄和LMX干预有影响。但是，应根据成员的观点来查看结果。尽管这是LMX研究中的一种普遍做法，但探索领导者的信任和心理反应也很有趣，以获取对领导力实践的更多见解。

创意/价值

为探究关系年龄对LMX的影响所做的工作有限，这也是受信任介导的。本研究已尝试通过领导成员二元组进行此操作。