Can Positive Emotion Benefit to Leader-Member Exchange? The Role of Leader Identification

Although leader-member exchange (LMX) has received burgeoning attention in recent decades, a majority of research focus on how leaders rather than followers affect LMX. Zooming in the effect of followers' emotions on LMX, this study proposes that followers' positive emotions and leader identification is associated with LMX, further hypothesizes that leaders' positive emotions moderate the relationship between leader identification and LMX. Results from 319 Chinese employees show that followers' positive emotions and leader identification are positively related to LMX. Moreover, leaders' positive emotions moderatethe relationship between leader identification and LMX.