Dyadic meta-accuracy in leader-member exchanges: an examination of antecedents and relational outcomes

Abstract

Work organizations are inherently social entities, dependent upon the social interactions between supervisors and subordinates. This study examined the role of interpersonal processes within organizational settings, focusing upon subordinates‟ accuracy in judging their supervisors‟ impressions of the subordinates‟ personality. This phenomenon, dyadic meta-accuracy, is examined within exchange relationships between supervisors and subordinates, drawing upon Leader Member Exchange (LMX) theory and the metaperception literature. A theoretical framework proposed potential antecedents of subordinate meta-accuracy, including: communication frequency, physical proximity, psychological closeness, and trait visibility. In addition, subordinate meta-accuracy was proposed as a determinant of the relational quality between subordinate and supervisor and the congruence between their perceptions of this quality. The study utilized a snowball sampling technique to collect survey data from 72 supervisor-subordinate dyads. MANCOVA and ANOVA were utilized in the testing of hypotheses. Results supported physical proximity and trait visibility as predictors of meta-accuracy. Meta-accuracy was also significantly associated with LMX quality and congruence in their perceptions of relational quality. Differential results were found across the five personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability), and conscientiousness held the greatest importance relative to other factors