Leader Member Exchange and Employee Envy: Examining the role of Perceived Co-worker Similarity and Equity Sensitivity

Envy is a universal emotion and often is considered to be socially undesirable. This emotion has been relatively ignored in organizational behavior research. In this study, we focus on the impact of leader member exchange on envy. We also investigate moderating effects of perceived co-worker similarity and equity sensitivity in the relationship between leader member exchange and envy. Building on leader member exchange (LMX) theory, we argue that employees who do not have good relationship with their leaders (lower LMX) will feel envious towards the employees who have good relationship (higher LMX) with their leaders. Also, the effects of this relationship will be stronger for those employees who have higher equity sensitivity and when they perceive their co-worker being similar with them. We conclude the study by discussing the practical implications and by identifying some interesting directions for the future