16096: High Leader-Member Exchange Social Comparison Leads to Greater Imposter Feeling Among Females Tokens (session 25654)

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-perception. We challenge this dominant view by considering who the comparer is and to whom the comparer is compared. More specifically, drawing on the LMXSC literature and tokenism theory, we propose that 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 female employees working in male-dominated teams (i.e., female tokens), but not among male employees working in female-dominated teams (i.e., male tokens), 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.

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