Inhibition or Promotion:The Influence Mechanism of Leader-Member Exchange Ambivalence on Employees' Innovative Behavior

Abstract

Abstract: Employee innovation is the source for enterprises to cope with dynamic changes and innovative development in VUCA era. Leader-member exchange ambivalence has increasingly become a source of job stress for employees. It is necessary to take into account the positive and negative aspects of leader-member exchange ambivalence and comprehensively explore its influence on employees' innovative behavior. Based on the social information processing theory, this study explores the “double-edged sword” effect of leader-member exchange ambivalence on employees' innovative behavior, taking 1024 questionnaires matched in two stages as samples. The research shows that employees selectively process the positive or negative information of the leader-member exchange ambivalence based on their own individual characteristics, and then form challenge stress and hinderance stress, which promotes or inhibits job crafting, and finally exerts a “double-edged sword” effect on employees' innovative behavior. However,the inhibition effect is greater than the promotion effect, so leader-member exchange ambivalence will inhibit employees' innovative behavior as a whole. A good organizational innovation climate will not only strengthen the promotion effect of job crafting on employees' innovative behavior, but also strengthen the promotion and inhibition of leader-member exchange ambivalence on employees' innovative behavior as a whole. The results of this study clarify the pathways and mechanisms of “double-edged sword” effect of leader-member exchange ambivalence on employees' innovative behavior, having a guiding value for organizations to take measures to correctly manage and guide employees' leader-member exchange ambivalence and then promote employees' innovative behavior.

Key words: Leader-Member Exchange Ambivalence, Challenge-Hindrance Stress, Two Sides of Ambivalence, Selective Information Processing

摘要： 员工创新是企业在VUCA时代应对动态变化、创新发展的源泉。上下级关系矛盾体验日益成为员工的工作压力源,有必要兼顾上下级关系矛盾体验的积极面和消极面探究其对员工创新行为的影响。本研究以两阶段匹配的1024份问卷为样本,根据矛盾体验的两面性,基于社会信息加工理论探究上下级关系矛盾体验对员工创新行为的“双刃剑”效应。研究表明,员工基于自身的个体特征对上下级关系矛盾体验的积极或消极信息进行选择性信息加工后形成挑战性压力和阻碍性压力,进而推动或抑制工作重塑,最终对员工创新行为产生“双刃剑”效应,但抑制作用大于促进作用,上下级关系矛盾体验总体上会抑制员工创新行为。良好的组织创新氛围不仅会强化工作重塑对员工创新行为的促进作用,而且能整体上强化上下级关系矛盾体验对员工创新行为的促进作用和抑制作用。研究结果厘清了上下级关系矛盾体验对员工创新行为的“双刃剑”效应的作用路径和机理,为组织采取措施对员工的上下级关系矛盾体验加以正确管理和引导,促进员工创新行为有指导价值。

关键词: 上下级关系矛盾体验, 挑战-阻碍性压力, 矛盾体验的两面性, 选择性信息加工

CLC Number:

F272.92

TAN Chunping, WU Luxia, ZHANG Yuqi. Inhibition or Promotion:The Influence Mechanism of Leader-Member Exchange Ambivalence on Employees' Innovative Behavior[J]. Collected Essays on Finance and Economics, 2025, 41(4): 113-124.

谭春平, 吴禄霞, 张羽琦. 抑制还是促进:上下级关系矛盾体验对员工创新行为的影响机理[J]. 财经论丛, 2025, 41(4): 113-124.

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