Events

Mr. Haoying (Howie) Xu
Ph. D. Candidate in Organizational Behavior/Human Resource Management
Department of Managerial Studies
University of Illinois at Chicago

This research develops a theoretical model that explains how and when perception of being envied by the supervisor is associated with the focal employee’s approach and avoidanceoriented interpersonal behaviors toward the supervisor, and in extension, elucidates the downstream relational consequences of the divergent interpersonal behaviors. Drawing on cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion, this research explores two discrete emotions—relationship hope and relationship anxiety—as key mechanisms in translating perception of being envied by the supervisor into organizational citizenship behavior toward the supervisor (OCB-S; a form of approach-oriented interpersonal behavior) and interaction avoidance behavior toward the supervisor (IAB-S; a form of avoidance-oriented interpersonal behavior), respectively. Integrating cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion with approach-inhibition theory of power, this research suggests that the positive indirect effect of perception of being envied by the supervisor on OCB-S via relationship hope is stronger when the employee’s sense of power with respect to the supervisor is higher, whereas the positive indirect effect of perception of being envied by the supervisor on IAB-S via relationship anxiety is stronger when the employee’s sense of power with respect to the supervisor is lower. In turn,the impact of these two forms of interpersonal behaviors on the supervisor’s perception of leader-member exchange (LMX) is examined. The research model will be tested with a vignette experimental study and a two-source, three-phase time lagged field study.