A mediation model of leaders’ favoritism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a mediation model for understanding how favoritism, in the context of the leader–member exchange (LMX) theory, influences subordinate-rated LMX via the subordinates’ perception of organizational justice. Design/methodology/approach The sample comprised 39 managers and 159 employees working in local branches of banks in Taiwan. While the managers were asked to rate their LMX scores with all employees, three to five employees were randomly selected to participate in a survey which included two phases with a time lag of three months. Given the nested structure of the data, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the mediation model. Findings The findings support the mediation model, indicating that LMX favoritism can significantly influence subordinate-rated LMX by enhancing subordinates’ justice perception. Originality/value The study contributes to the existing LMX research by showing that a superior’s LMX favoritism may change subordinate-rated LMX over time.