Moderating role of leader-member exchange in the relationship between workplace information anxiety and affective organizational commitment

Purpose Grounded in Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examines the relationship between workplace information anxiety and affective organizational commitment. It further investigates whether this relationship is moderated by leader–member exchange (LMX), proposing that the negative effect of information anxiety on organizational commitment may vary depending on the quality of employee–leader relationships. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a quantitative survey method using data collected from 257 Korean employees across various organizations. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine both the direct effects of workplace information anxiety on affective organizational commitment and the moderating effects of leader–member exchange. Findings The results indicate that workplace information anxiety is negatively associated with affective organizational commitment. Furthermore, this negative relationship is stronger among employees with low levels of leader–member exchange than among those with high levels. These findings suggest that LMX may function as a buffering mechanism that alleviates the adverse effects of information anxiety on employees’ emotional attachment to their organizations. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the role LMX in the relationship between workplace information anxiety and affective organizational commitment. More specifically, the findings indicate that LMX functions as a contextual buffering resource primarily in relation to task-related information anxiety rather than across all dimensions of workplace information anxiety. Therefore, the contribution of this study should be interpreted as context-specific and limited in scope. By integrating COR theory with the LMX framework, the research provides empirical evidence on how social resources may buffer the negative effects of information-induced stress, particularly in task-related contexts. The findings offer context-specific insights into managing information-related stress in contemporary workplaces, rather than establishing a broad or universal effect.