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Effects of work stressors on desire for organizational construction: The moderating role of leader–member exchange

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2015

Li Zhang ,
Long Chen  and
Ning Zhao
Li Zhang*
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
Long Chen
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
Ning Zhao
Affiliation:
School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
*
Corresponding author: zhanglihit@hit.edu.cn
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Abstract

This study constructs the relationship between work stressors and the desire for organizational construction and the moderating role of leader–member exchange. The study is conducted by integrating social exchange and uncertainty management theory. Through investigating 204 employees and performing a scenario study in China, this research confirms that challenge stressors are positively related to desire for organizational construction. The relationship between hindrance stressors and desire for organizational construction tends to be U-shaped in the condition of high leader–member exchange, and the relationship tends to have an inverted U-shape in the condition of low leader–member exchange. This study has important implications for discerning the scope of application for both social exchange and uncertainty management theory, as managers seek to explain the relationship between negative treatment of employees and their desire for organizational construction.

Keywords

work stressorsdesire for organizational constructionleader-member exchangesocial exchange theoryuncertainty management theory
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , May 2016 , pp. 367 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

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