How Does Leader Narcissism Influence Employee Voice: The Attribution of Leader Impression Management and Leader-Member Exchange

Recently, the influence of leader’s personality traits on employee behavior has become an emerging research area. Leaders play a crucial role in any organization because team members look up to them for policy and behavioral guidelines. Based on the social exchange theory, this study is focused on the relationship of employee-perceived leader narcissism and employee voice behavior. Through the analysis of 239 questionnaires, we find that leader narcissism has a significant influence on the motivation of leadership impression management. The narcissistic leader uses impression management that is more likely to have self- serving purpose rather than pro-social motivation. This motivation impacts leader-member exchange (LMX) quality which influences employee voice behavior. This study has significant theoretical and practical implications as it is the first study that empirically verifies the stated relationship in this under-researched area.