High LMXSC is not always a blessing: Token women, imposter feelings, promotive and prohibitive voice

Description

Existing research on leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) generally suggests that a favorable LMXSC can serve as self-enhancement, leading to an elevation of the comparer’s self-view. We challenge this dominant view by considering who the comparer is and whom the comparer is compared to. More specifically, drawing on the LMXSC literature and tokenism theory, we propose that a favorable LMXSC may lead to imposter feelings—feelings of self-doubt other than self-elevation—among token members. Using multi-wave field data collected from 383 leader-member dyads, we found that favorable LMXSC heightened imposter feelings among token females, but not among token males, and the imposter feelings subsequently led to increase in employees’ promotive but decrease in their prohibitive voice behaviors. This research expands understandings about the social comparison theory and LMXSC literature. Implications for practice are also discussed.

Period	11 Jun 2025 → 15 Jun 2025
Held at	2025 International Association of Chinese Management Research (IACMR) conference, China
Degree of Recognition	International