下属-主管匹配与员工的工作幸福感:领导-成员交换和政治技能的作用

The Employee-Supervisor Fit and Employee Job Satisfaction:The Role of Leader-Member Exchange and Political Skill

基于社会交换理论,通过2个时点对209名员工进行配对问卷调查,探讨了下属-主管匹配对工作幸福感的影响机制,尤其是领导-成员交换的中介作用和政治技能的调节作用。结果发现:(1)下属-主管匹配对工作幸福感具有积极的影响;(2)领导-成员交换在下属-主管匹配和工作幸福感之间起完全中介作用;(3)政治技能调节下属-主管匹配和领导-成员交换间的关系,即当个体的政治技能水平越低,下属-主管匹配对领导-成员交换的正向影响越强。

Job satisfaction has attracted much attention with the rise of positive psychology, which focuses on positive attitudes and effect within the workplace, and plays a positive role for organization outcomes, such as： organizational performance and organization citizenship behavior. Previous research suggests that various forms of person-environment fit are helpful to improve employees＇ well-being, for example, person-organization fit and person-job fit can enhance employees＇ job satisfaction. However, those studies mainly focus on other types of fit, without elaborating the fundamental link between employee-supervisor fit and job satisfaction, this topic needs further investigation. What is the internal mechanism whereby the person- supervisor fit operates in job satisfaction？ What is the boundary condition for the correlation between the person-supervisor fit and job satisfaction？ To answer the questions, we intend to explore how the person-supervisor fit affects job satisfaction and the effect of a relationship change. After a thorough review of the existing literature, a model, based on the social exchange theory was developed to examine the mediating role of the leader- member exchange between the person-supervisor fit and job satisfaction, and the moderating role of political skill between the person-supervisor fit and the leader-member exchange. The hypotheses were tested with empirical data. Data were collected from 209 employees in China through two separate surveys on separate occasions to reduce the common method bias. The person-supervisor fit, the leader-member exchange and political skill were evaluated to start with, and job satisfaction was evaluated one month later. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that all variables have high reliability and validity, and the four-factor model was better than other models. Hierarchical regression was used for data analyses. The results showed that the person-supervisor fit was positively related to employee job satisfaction （β =. 165, p 〈 .01）, the leader-member exchange fully mediated the relationship between the person-supervisor fit and job satisfaction, and political skill played a negative moderating role between the person-supervisor fit and the leader-member exchange. In conclusion, this research examined the mediating role of the leader-member exchange between the person-supervisor fit and job satisfaction, which unveiled the underlying mechanism of the person-supervisor fit and job satisfaction. Meanwhile, we also examined the moderating of political skill between the person-supervisor fit and the leader-member exchange, which revealed the boundary condition of the person-supervisor fit and job satisfaction. This research not only answered the question of how and when the person-supervisor fit affects employee well-being, but also examined the scientific validity of social exchange theory. Thus, the research has great significance to enrich the theoretical research of job satisfaction. The study has suggested that organizations could enhance the fit between employees and their supervisor by selection, training, and other soft methods. Moreover, supervisors can develop and strengthen the special interests of themselves and their subordinates by promoting the right employee-supervisor fit. An organization should pay close attention to the role of the leader-member exchange. Finally, it is important encourage employees to use political skill reasonably. Finally, we point out the limitations and future research directions.