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2.5.1.5 Egocentric bias
Egocentric bias has been identified as a vital antecedent for the LMX agreement
(Harris & Schaubroeck, 1988) and is explained by attribution theory. According to
attribution theory, organisation members tend to attribute good performance to their
own behaviour and blame environmental factors for their failures. Observers do it the
other way around, leading to different performance ratings and perceptions of the
LMX (Zhou & Schriesheim, 2009). Harris and Schaubroeck (1988) state that if this
sense of attribution is streamlined and a more accurate method of analysing the
relationship dyad is established, then better agreements can be expected.
2.5.2 Consequences of LMX Agreement
Analysing one dimension of the LMX construct may advance to considerably
unfavourable results (Cogliser et al., 2009). There is a possibility of subordinates
analysing the relationship more favourably than supervisors. For example, this process
may be habituated by the subordinates to impress or favour supervisors, or to garner
favourable returns from supervisors such as recommendations to senior management.
This might result in subordinates being overconfident, leading to negative
consequences for both the organisation and the subordinates (Cogliser et al., 1999). For
example, these subordinates may not attend to training sessions or might tend to take
up their work reluctantly (Atwater & Yammarino, 1997).
On the contrary, subordinates who assume their relationship to be less favourable than
that perceived by their respective supervisors may experience work anxiety, leading to
increased levels of employee turnover and reduced employee performance and
organisational commitment (Van Breukelen, Konst, & Van Der Vlist, 2002).
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