Master thesis Human Resource Studies
How employees regulate their emotions during change:
Leader-member exchange, resistance to change, emotional exhaustion
and the mediating role of emotion regulation strategies
Author: Susanne van de Kop (346817)
Master Thesis Human Resource Studies
Tilburg University
Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Supervisor: Dr. K. van Dam
Second assessor: Dr. R. Schalk
Project theme: Emotion regulation
Project period: January 2014 – August 2014
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 2
Abstract
This study examines the mediating effect of reappraisal and rumination on the
relationships between Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and the employee outcomes resistance
to change and emotional exhaustion in an organizational change setting. Previous research has
indicated that LMX influences employees’ resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. Less
attention has been paid to emotion regulation, which is actually an important factor because
emotion regulation influences the way employees respond to perceived challenges and
opportunities, such as organizational changes. This study has a longitudinal character since data
was gathered two times in nine organizations in different industries, with a total response of N =
111. The results partly supported the conceptual model, showing that the relationship of LMX
with resistance to change and emotional exhaustion was partially mediated by reappraisal. As
expected, reappraisal was negatively related to resistance to change and emotional exhaustion.
For the mediating effect of rumination no significant relationships were found. Overall, this study
contributes to the understanding of the role of emotion regulation strategies during organizational
change and shows the importance of the quality of LMX relationships on resistance to change
and emotional exhaustion.
Keywords: Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), resistance to change, emotional exhaustion,
reappraisal, rumination, emotion regulation.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 3
Introduction
Past research has shown that leaders can have a strong influence on their followers’
behavior and attitudes (Van Dam, Oreg & Schyns, 2008). This relationship is often referred to as
the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) relationship, which represents the relationship between
supervisor and subordinate over time (Gerstner & Day, 1997; Liden & Maslyn, 1998). LMX is
positively related to several work outcomes such as organizational commitment, satisfaction with
supervision and autonomy (Gerstner & Day, 1997; Van Dam et al., 2008). LMX is also
emphasized in organizational change models, as these models emphasize the need for leadership
in implementing and supporting a change (Whelan-Berry, Gordon & Hinings, 2003). Apparently,
many organizational change programs fail due to employees’ resistance to change, which is
caused by management who neglect the human dimension during change (Bovey & Hede, 2001).
The quality of LMX relationships can influence employees’ resistance to the change (Van Dam et
al., 2008). Resistance to change is an important element during organizational changes as it has
consequences such as lower employee satisfaction, productivity, well-being and higher
absenteeism and turnover (Van Dam et al., 2008). LMX is also positively related to employee
well-being (Sparr & Sonnentag, 2008; Hetland, Sandal & Johnsen, 2007). During organizational
change one of the most negative experienced effects is a decreased well-being of employees,
which expresses itself in higher emotional exhaustion and other stress symptoms (Bordia, Hunt,
Paulsen, Tourish & DiFonzo, 2004; Paulsen et al., 2005).
In the past much research has been done on organizational change, for example how
employees deal with organizational change and handle uncertainty (e.g. Furst & Cable, 2008;
Fugate, Kinicke & Scheck, 2002; Bordia et al., 2004). Less attention is paid to employees’
emotions and how employees regulate their emotions during organizational change. Emotion
regulation is important in change situations because the way people regulate their emotions
influences the way how they respond to perceived challenges and opportunities, such as
organizational changes (Gross, 2002). How employees deal with their emotions and which
emotion regulation strategies they use, is often studied in an experimental research setting
(Richards & Gross, 2000). There is little research attention for emotion regulation during
organizational change.
The goal of this study is to examine if emotion regulation strategies mediate the
relationships between LMX and resistance to change and between LMX and emotional
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 4
exhaustion. By combining organizational change and emotion regulation strategies, this study
tries to provide more insight in emotion regulation strategies and their mediating role in the
relationship between LMX - resistance to change and LMX - emotional exhaustion. Previous
literature indicate that there is more research needed in the supervisor- subordinate relationship
and emotion regulation at work (Glasø & Einarsen, 2008). This longitudinal study design
overcomes shortcomings from cross-sectional research such as common method bias and
therefore contributes to the scientific literature. Furthermore, this study can be relevant for
organizations which are implementing a change. Resistance to change and emotional exhaustion
can hinder the success of the organizational change, so knowing how people regulate their
emotions can help organizations and HR practitioners to anticipate on the consequences of
supervisor – subordinate relationships.
For this study the following research question is formulated:
To what extent is the leader-member exchange relationship related to resistance to change and
emotional exhaustion, and to what extent are these relationships mediated by emotion regulation
strategies?
In Figure 1 the conceptual model is presented.
LMX
Reappraisal
Rumination
Resistance to
change
Emotional
exhaustion
Figure 1. Conceptual model
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 5
Theoretical framework
LMX and employee outcomes
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) represents the exchange relationship between
supervisor and subordinate over time. LMX theory (Gerstner & Day, 1997) suggests that
supervisors develop different and unique relationships with their subordinates over time, instead
of using one style to deal with all their subordinates (Liden & Maslyn, 1998). Previous research
showed that LMX relationships are related to work outcomes, such as satisfaction with work and
supervisor, organizational commitment, performance, organizational citizenship behavior and
autonomy (Gerstner & Day, 1997; Liden & Maslyn, 1998).
According to LMX theory, supervisors and subordinates build their exchange relationship
through a role-making process. Supervisor and subordinates have certain role expectations and
during the role-making process they test each other on these role expectations. When these
expectations are met, they are likely to develop a high quality LMX relationship (Xu, Huang,
Lam & Miao, 2012). A high quality LMX relationship is characterized by a reciprocal exchange
in which one member gets something favourable from the other member and in return comes up
with something favourable for the other member (Sparr & Sonnentag, 2008). High quality LMX
relationships are characterized by high levels of trust, support, formal and informal rewards in
comparison to low quality LMX relationships. For example, in times of organizational change,
supervisors in high quality LMX relationships provide their subordinates with more information
and opportunities to participate. Subsequently, these employees receive more information about
the organizational change and have more opportunities to participate, whereby they build more
trust in the management, compared with employees in low quality LMX relationships. Therefore,
employees in high quality LMX relationships will develop less resistance to change, compared to
employees in low LMX relationships (Van Dam et al., 2008). Because LMX relationships are
reciprocal, it can also be expected that employees in high LMX relationships are more willing to
cooperate in organizational change than employees in low LMX relationships. Therefore the
following hypothesis is formulated:
Hypothesis 1a: Leader-member exchange is negatively related to resistance to change.
During organizational change one of the most negative, experienced effect is a decreased
well-being of employees, which expresses itself in higher emotional exhaustion and other stress
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 6
symptoms (Bordia et al., 2004; Paulsen et al., 2005). Emotional exhaustion is the biggest facet of
burnout (and thus part of well-being), which refers to feelings of being overextended and
depleted of one’s emotional and physical resources (Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). When
people think they are experiencing a burnout, they often experience emotional exhaustion
(Maslach et al., 2001). Emotional exhaustion is likely to occur when negative feelings in the
workplace need to be regulated (Grandey, Kern & Frone, 2007).
Previous research indicated that the workplace factors personal control and job
uncertainty influence employees’ emotional exhaustion level, but that other workplace factors
may also play a role (Paulsen et al., 2005). LMX can be one of the factors that may influence
employees’ emotional exhaustion. When the LMX relationship between supervisor and
subordinate has a low quality, role expectations are not met and the subordinate will not receive
high levels of trust, support and rewards from the supervisor. These poor LMX relationships can
contain interpersonal conflicts and can affect employees’ feelings, self-esteem and self-efficacy
(Xu et al., 2012). Previous research has shown that these poor, abuse supervisor – subordinate
relationships are related to multiple negative psychological, emotional and attitudinal outcomes
like decreased self-efficacy and heightened emotional exhaustion (Duffy, Ganster & Pagon,
2002; Grandey et al., 2007). It is therefore expected that subordinates in high quality LMX
relationships will experience less emotional exhaustion than employees in low quality LMX
relationships. Therefore the following hypothesis is stated:
Hypothesis 1b: Leader-member exchange is negatively related to emotional exhaustion.
Emotion regulation strategies
It appears that the quality of LMX relationships can influence employees’ resistance to
change and emotional exhaustion. These relationships can be influenced by how employees
handle their emotions, which in turn will affect their resistance to change and emotional
exhaustion. So the relationships between LMX and resistance to change and between LMX and
emotional exhaustion can be further explained by examining emotion regulation strategies.
Emotion regulation is defined by Gross (1998, p. 275) as ‘the processes by which
individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience
and express these emotions’. The regulation of emotions can be automatic or controlled and can
happen conscious or unconscious. Emotions are reactions to events, which are evaluated by
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 7
individuals according to their perceived personal significance, such as personal goals and well-
being (Kiefer, 2005). Emotion regulation strategies are therefore aimed at influencing people’s
emotions and can help employees adapt to challenging work situations (Van Dam, 2013). Gross
(1998) made a distinction between antecedent-focused emotion regulation and response-focused
emotion regulation. With antecedent-focused emotion regulation strategies the emotion is being
regulated before the emotion is fully occurred. An example is seeing a job interview as an
opportunity to learn about the organization instead of a pass-fail test (Gross, 2002). When using
response-focused emotion regulation strategies the emotion is regulated when the emotion has
already occurred. An example is not showing anxiety when you are leaving your child at the
kindergarten for the first time (Gross, 1998). In this study two antecedent-focused emotion
regulation strategies will be investigated, namely reappraisal and rumination.
Reappraisal – Reappraisal is used in everyday life and appears to be a useful emotion
regulation strategy (McRae, Jacobs, Ray, John & Gross, 2012). Reappraisal is a form of the
cognitive change emotion regulation strategy (Gross, 1998). When employees use reappraisal as
emotion regulation strategy they change the way they think about a situation in order to control
and decrease its emotional impact; they give a certain meaning to a situation (Gross, 2002).
Reappraisal is often used to decrease the emotional response, but it can also be used to intensify
the emotional reaction or to change the emotion itself. An example is turning anger into
disappointment. The meaning people give to a situation is important, because it has a strong
influence on the psychological and behavioral response (Gross, 2002). An employee can, for
example, reappraise the organizational change situation and try to see the more positive sides of
the change instead of only seeing the negative sides. Subsequently, when employees reappraise a
situation they have less negative emotions and show less negative expressive behavior, while
they increase positive emotions and positive emotion expression (Gross, 2002). This reappraisal
strategy is an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, which includes the use of humor and
anticipation (McRae et al., 2012; Mikolajczak, Nelis, Hansenne & Quoidbach, 2008).
Rumination – Rumination is part of the attentional deployment emotion regulation
strategy. When the rumination strategy is used, attention is directed to (often negative) feelings
and their consequences, for example: people think ‘I feel so miserable, I cannot concentrate’
(Gross, 1998). People use this emotion regulation strategy because they see this strategy as a
problem-solving strategy (Leahy, 2007). However, consequences of rumination are increased
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 8
negative feelings, which strengthen negative cognitions whereby negative emotions are
maintained (Leahy, 2007). In case of an organizational change, employees would focus their
attention on the negative sides of the change, thereby negative thoughts about the change and
negative emotions are maintained. Because negative emotions are maintained, rumination
reduces the possibility to experience enjoyable situations. Furthermore, this emotion regulation
strategy can lead to longer and more depressive symptoms (Leahy, 2007; Just & Alloy, 1997).
Rumination however, can be reduced when people who ruminate find other people who ruminate.
They identify themselves with those people because they share the same feelings, which makes
their feelings understandable and rumination is therefore not further necessary (Leahy, 2007).
Overall, rumination appears to be a negative emotion regulation strategy, which is also referred to
as a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy (Mikolajczak et al., 2008).
Because LMX relationships are coloured by emotions, it is expected that employees use
emotion regulating strategies to regulate their emotions in the relationship with their supervisor
(Glasø & Einarsen, 2006). Because emotions can influence behavior in both positive and negative
ways, good leaders should manage their own emotions, but also influence the emotional states of
their subordinates (Fisk & Friesen, 2012). This is confirmed by Graen and Uhl Bien (1995), who
state that reciprocate relationships between supervisors and subordinates are not only
behaviorally, but also emotionally. The study of Glasø and Einarsen (2008) also indicates that
supervisors and subordinates express, suppress or fake their emotions. These findings imply that
leaders can influence employees’ emotions and vice versa, which indicate that emotion regulation
is an element of LMX relationships. An advantage of emotion regulation in LMX relationships is
that the interaction between supervisor and subordinates becomes more predictable, and thereby
reducing the uncertainty at work (Glasø & Einarsen, 2008). When uncertainty at work is reduced,
it is likely that there will be less rumination, because people have less to worry about.
Furthermore, as mentioned in the previous section, subordinates in high quality relationships are
provided with more information and opportunities to participate in times of organizational
change, compared to subordinates in low quality LMX relationships. It is therefore likely that the
subordinates in high quality LMX relationships reappraise more and ruminate less, because of
their good quality relationship with their supervisor. Subordinates in low quality LMX
relationships on the other hand, will probably reappraise less and ruminate more because they do
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 9
not receive so much information about the change and opportunities to participate. Overall, this
indicates that the quality of LMX relationships can influence the emotion regulation strategies
employees use. However, research about the relationship between LMX and emotion regulation
is limited (Glasø & Einarsen, 2008). In this study we will examine the association between LMX
and emotion regulation in more detail. We expect that the quality of LMX relationships have an
influence on both reappraisal and rumination. Therefore, the following hypotheses are
formulated:
Hypothesis 2a: Leader-member exchange is positively related to reappraisal.
Hypothesis 2b: Leader-member exchange is negatively related to rumination.
As mentioned above, reappraisal is an adaptive emotion regulation strategy which
includes humor and anticipation (McRae et al., 2001; Mikolajczak et al., 2008). Employees who
use adaptive emotion regulation strategies show higher levels support for organizational changes
(Bovey & Hede, 2001). This is supported by the study of Visser and Van Dam (2014), who found
that employees who reappraise change situations are more open to change, whereby it leads to
less resistance to change. Previous research has also shown that the use of adaptive emotion
regulation strategies and thus reappraisal, leads to less resistance to change (Bovey & Hede,
2001). Reappraisal is therefore an important predictor of resistance to change (Visser & Van
Dam, 2014). The following hypothesis is therefore formulated:
Hypothesis 3a: Reappraisal is negatively related to resistance to change.
The way employees regulate their emotions is linked with their well-being (Gross, 2002).
The emotion regulation strategy reappraisal leads to greater experience of positive emotions,
closer social relationships, more satisfaction with life and optimism (Gross, Richards & John,
2006). Previous research has also shown that people who reappraise have a better well-being,
which expresses itself in higher levels of personal growth, self-acceptance and a clearer purpose
in life (Gross & John, 2003). This is confirmed by other studies who also found a relationship
between reappraisal and well-being (Gross et al., 2006; McRae et al., 2012; Mikolajczak et al.,
2008). So not only leads reappraisal to less resistance to change, but it also appears to be
positively related to employees’ well-being. That reappraisal leads to a better well-being is
probably a result of the cognitive change people make, whereby positive emotions and positive
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 10
emotion expression increases (Gross, 2002). People who reappraise are more likely to have a
positive way of life which can benefit a person’s well-being. Because previous studies have
shown that reappraisal is positively related to employee well-being, it is expected that reappraisal
is also related to emotional exhaustion, since emotional exhaustion is a facet of well-being (Gross
et al., 2006; McRae et al., 2012; Mikolajczak et al., 2008). Therefore, the following hypothesis is
stated:
Hypothesis 3b: Reappraisal is negatively related to emotional exhaustion.
Rumination is, as mentioned above, a maladaptive emotion regulation strategy which is
often associated with negative outcomes (Mikolajczak et al., 2008). People who use maladaptive
emotion regulation strategies are less open for organizational changes (Bovey & Hede, 2001).
Organizational changes are emotional processes which are often associated with negative
reactions to change, which can result in resistance to the change. Previous research (Kiefer, 2005)
has also shown that how more changes an employee experiences at work, the more negative
emotions the individual will have. It is likely that these negative emotions during changes are
regulated via the rumination strategy. Other studies have also shown that the use of maladaptive
emotion regulation strategies, like denial, dissociation, isolation of affect, projection and acting
out, are positively related to resistance to change (Bovey & Hede, 2001; Visser & Van Dam,
2014). When employees use maladaptive emotion regulation strategies like rumination, it is
expected that they will have more resistance to change. Therefore, the following hypothesis is
stated:
Hypothesis 3c: Rumination is positively related to resistance to change.
Multiple studies have shown that people who ruminate have depressive symptoms and a
negative, sad mood (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1993; Raes, 2010; Leahy, 2007; Just & Alloy,
1997). People who ruminate can also have problems with anxiety, depression, negative affect and
can develop mental and physical disorders which are negatively related to the overall quality of
life (Harrington & Loffredo, 2010). It is therefore likely that rumination has a negative effect on
employees’ well-being. The study of Harrington and Loffredo (2010) has indeed shown that
rumination is negatively related to well-being. Similarly, Ciarrochi and Scott (2006) found in
their cross-sectional research that rumination was strongly correlated with well-being and in their
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 11
longitudinal study they also found rumination significantly predicting well-being. As mentioned
before, in this study it is assumed that emotional exhaustion is a facet of well-being and therefore
it is expected that rumination is related to emotional exhaustion. This expectation is based on the
literature which showed that rumination is related with depression, negative moods and well-
being (Harrington & Loffredo, 2010; Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1993; Raes, 2010; Leahy,
2007; Just & Alloy, 1997). The following hypothesis is stated:
Hypothesis 3d: Rumination is positively related to emotional exhaustion.
Emotion regulation strategies as mediators
According to Affective Events Theory (AET), emotions mediate the process between
affective events and the behavioral actions that follow (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996). In an
organizational context this means that an affective work event can cause affective responses at
work from employees. Translated to this study, LMX relationships serve as affective events,
causing emotions that need to be regulated, which in the end affects outcomes like employees’
resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. Besides AET theory there are studies that support
this mediation effect. Visser and Van Dam (2014) studied the relationship between perceived
organizational justice, emotion regulation strategies and resistance to change and found a
significant mediation effect for reappraisal and rumination. Another study (Karreman &
Vingerhoets, 2012) found support for the mediating effect of reappraisal in the relationship
between attachment styles and well-being. As previously mentioned, emotional exhaustion is a
facet of well-being and it is therefore expected that this finding also holds for emotional
exhaustion. There is limited research about LMX and emotion regulation, but evidence is found
to expect that LMX is related to emotion regulation strategies and that emotion regulation
strategies are related to resistance to change and emotional exhaustion (Glasø & Einarsen, 2008;
Bovey & Hede, 2001; Visser & Van Dam, 2014; Harrington and Loffredo, 2010; Ciarrochi &
Scott, 2006). However, the relationship between LMX, emotion regulation strategies, resistance
to change and emotional exhaustion is very complex and depends on the context. It is therefore
unlikely that reappraisal and rumination fully mediate the LMX – resistance to change and LMX
- emotional exhaustion relationships. In this study it is therefore expected that the relationships
between LMX and resistance to change and between LMX and emotional exhaustion are partially
mediated by reappraisal and rumination. Therefore the following hypotheses are formulated:
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 12
Hypothesis 4a: The relationship between leader-member exchange and resistance to
change is partially mediated by reappraisal.
Hypothesis 4b: The relationship between leader-member exchange and resistance to
change is partially mediated by rumination.
Hypothesis 4c: The relationship between leader-member exchange and emotional
exhaustion is partially mediated by reappraisal.
Hypothesis 4d: The relationship between leader-member exchange and emotional
exhaustion is partially mediated by rumination.
Method
Procedure
Data was collected in nine organizations in different industries. The organizations that
participated in this study were Rabobank Zuid-Holland Midden, Itho Daalderop, municipality
Oss, National Police Corps, DONG Energy, Capgemini, Viecuri, Open University and one
insurance company who preferred to stay anonymous. Most organizations were in the middle of
an organizational change process (T1 = 79.3% and T2 = 73.9%) and their biggest motivation to
participate in this study was to know how their employees experience organizational changes.
Rabobank Zuid-Holland Midden is an independent local bank, which falls under the
Rabobank Group. Itho Daalderop develops and produces innovative solutions for a comfortable
indoor climate and Capgemini is an international provider of consulting, technology and
outsourcing services. Rabobank Zuid-Holland Midden, Itho Daalderop and Capgemini went
through a reorganization whereby less jobs became available and people had to be laid off.
Viecuri is a medical center which went through a restructuring whereby people had to be laid off.
DONG Energy is an international energy supplier which also had to lay people off because of a
takeover. The National Police Corps is a part of the government and is responsible for specialized
missions. The change within The National Police Corps was a reduction of the workforce.
Municipality Oss had to implement a new way of working because of law that was changed. The
Open University went through a reorganization whereby a new working structure was
implemented. Because of this change less jobs were available and people had to be laid off. The
insurance company also had to lay people off.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 13
The researchers contacted their network (convenience sampling) to find organizations
who were willing to participate. These organizations were approached via e-mail, telephone
contact, LinkedIn and personal contact. There also have been visits to organizations when there
were questions about the study. When organizations gave their permission to conduct the study,
employees were invited by e-mail to fill out an online questionnaire. A cover letter was included,
emphasizing that participation was voluntary and that anonymity and confidentiality were
assured. The cover letter also included a description of the goals and topic of the study. For the
second data gathering in May, this procedure was repeated. Furthermore, to increase the response
rate a reminder was sent to all employees during the data collection periods.
Data was gathered at two times, in April 2014 (T1) and in May 2014 (T2). Employees
who filled out the questionnaire at T1 were asked to fill out another questionnaire at T2. Using
this data collection method this study overcomes shortcomings of cross-sectional research such as
common method bias (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee & Podsakoff, 2003). In this study common
method bias was minimalized by separating the predictor- and criterion measurement moments
and also by using a different answer scale (7-point Likert scale instead of a 5-point Likert scale)
for the emotional exhaustion variable.
Because data was gathered two times during this study, the number of participants in each
data gathering round differs. For the first data round 716 employees were approached, excluding
the employees from the Open University. The Open Universiteit placed the link to the online
questionnaire on intranet, therefore the number of invited employees were not available. For the
second data gathering 262 employees were approached, again excluded the employees from the
Open University.
Sample of participants
From the 716 distributed questionnaires at T1 (excluding the questionnaires that are
distributed via the intranet of the Open Universiteit) 374 responses were returned. 112 Responses
were removed because of missing data, which eventually led to a sample size of 262 usable
responses. The total response rate at T1 was 36.59%. At T2 262 questionnaires were distributed
(excluding the questionnaires that were distributed via the intranet of the Open Universiteit) and
177 questionnaires were returned. From the 177 returned questionnaires 66 were removed
because of missing data, which led to a sample size at T2 of 111 usable responses. The total
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 14
response rate at T2 was 42.37%. The response rates of the two data gathering moments both
exceed the rule of thumb given in the literature by Field (2009), which suggests that a study must
have 10 to 15 participants per variable. When this rule of thumb is applied to this study a
response rate of 100 to 150 respondents would be sufficient.
The respondents had a mean age of 42.32 years (SD = 10.33), with an average job tenure
of 14.32 years (SD = 11.53). 48.6 Per cent of the respondents were male and 12.1 per cent had a
management position. From the respondents 1.9 per cent did primary education and another 1.9
per cent did secondary education. 28 Per cent of the respondents did lower vocational education,
42.1 per cent did higher education and 26.2 per cent did University. Regarding the status of the
organizational change, 3.6 per cent of the respondents indicated that their organization was
starting a change, 73.6 per cent were in the middle of an organizational change process, followed
by 17.3 per cent who indicated that their organization was ending a period of changes and 5.5 per
cent had already closed a period of changes.
Independent samples t-test
An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare the scores for the respondents
who filled out the questionnaire once and twice. Variables that were included in the samples t-test
were gender, age, tenure, management position, education, LMX, reappraisal, rumination,
resistance to change and emotional exhaustion. Group 1 is the group who filled out the
questionnaire once and group 2 is the group who filled out the questionnaire twice.
There were significant differences in the scores for LMX, rumination and resistance to
change. There was a significant difference on LMX scores for group 1 (M = 3.52, SD = .82) and
group 2 (M = 3.79, SD = .66; t (260) = -3.05, p = < .01, two-tailed). The magnitude of the
differences in the means (mean difference = -.28, 95% CI: -.46 to -.10) was small (eta squared = -
.03). Cohen’s d was also calculated to establish an effect size, this was done by calculating the
following formula: mean 1 – mean 2 / average standard deviation. The Cohen’s d for the
difference in LMX was -.36, which is a small till medium effect size. There was also a significant
difference on rumination scores for group 1 (M = 2.11, SD = .80) and group 2 (M = 1.83, SD =
.63; t (260) = 3.24, p = < .01, two-tailed). The magnitude of the differences in the means (mean
difference = .29, 95% CI: .11 to .46) was small (eta squared = .04). The Cohen’s d for the
difference in rumination was .39, which is a medium effect size. There was also a significant
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 15
difference on resistance to change scores for group 1 (M = 2.44, SD = .72) and group 2 (M =
2.16, SD = .69; t (260) = 3.15, p = < .01, two-tailed). The magnitude of the differences in the
means (mean difference = .28, 95% CI: .11 to .46 was small (eta squared = .04). The Cohen’s d
for the difference in resistance to change was .39, which is a medium effect size. These
differences in effects indicate that the group who filled out the questionnaire twice had a better
quality LMX relationship, ruminated less and showed less resistance to change compared to the
group who filled out the questionnaire once.
Measures
Unless otherwise indicated, a 5-point Likert scale was used with 1 = strongly disagree and
5 = strongly agree.
Leader-member exchange T1 was measured with a seven-item scale from Graen and Uhl-
Bien (1995) translated by Janssen and Van Yperen (2004). A sample item was: ‘The work
relationship with my supervisor is good’. Cronbach’s alpha was .92.
Reappraisal T1 was measured with a five-item scale taken from Van Dam, Kleine and
Struijs (2013) and Van Dam and Visser (2014). A sample item was: ‘I realize that the
change/situation also has positive sides’. Item ‘I imagine that there are worse things in life than
change’ was removed after conducting a reliability and Principal Component Analysis (PCA),
because this item had a correlation of .13 with the reappraisal scale. In addition, the PCA showed
a relatively low component loading compared to the other items of the reappraisal scale. After the
item was removed Cronbach’s Alpha was .90.
Rumination T1 was measured with a four-item scale from Van Dam, Kleine and Struis
(2013) and Van Dam and Visser (2014). A sample item was: ‘I keep thinking about what
happened’. Cronbach’s alpha was .83.
Resistance to change T2 was measured with a fifteen-item scale from Oreg (2006). A
sample item in the questionnaire was: ‘I feel resistance to the change’. PCA showed that the
reversed items ‘I am open to consider and try out the change’ and ‘I think the change will
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 16
personally benefit me’ loaded higher on other scales. After removing the two items Cronbach’s
alpha was .93.
Emotional exhaustion T2 was measured with the five-item emotional exhaustion scale of
the Utrecht Burnout Questionnaire (Van Dierendock & Schaufeli, 2001). A sample item was: ‘I
feel mentally exhausted by my work’. Responses were given on a 7-point Likert scale which
ranged from 1 (never) to 7 (always). Cronbach’s Alpha was .91.
Background measures: Age and tenure were measured with an open answer. Gender was
measured with a two-point scale: man - female. Education was measured as: primary education,
secondary education, lower vocational education, higher vocational education and university.
Management position was measured with a two-point scale: yes - no.
Principal Component Analysis
PCA was conducted to make a clear distinction between the variables. As mentioned
previously, PCA showed that one item of the reappraisal scale had a relatively low component
loading compared to the other items of the scale. Furthermore, two items of the resistance to
change scale loaded higher on other components than on the resistance to change components.
Therefore, these three items are removed. PCA is repeated after removing the three items
whereby the pattern matrix showed that all variables significantly loaded on their own scales. The
PCA after removing the items is included in Table 1.
Statistical analysis
Before conducting hierarchical regression analysis and interpreting the outcomes,
assumptions for conducting hierarchical regression analysis were checked: sample size, outliers,
linearity, normality, homoscedasticity and the independence of residuals (Pallant, 2010).
The mediating effect was studied using the recommendations of Baron and Kenny (1986).
According to Baron and Kenny (1986) three conditions must be met to establish a mediation
effect: LMX must predict reappraisal and rumination; LMX must predict resistance to change and
emotional exhaustion; reappraisal and rumination must predict resistance to change and
emotional exhaustion.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 17
To test the conditions of Baron and Kenny (1989), hierarchical regression analysis was
used. In total four regression analyses were conducted. The first two regression analyses
examined whether there was a relationship between the predictor LMX and the mediating
variables reappraisal and rumination. Subsequently, the whole model was tested implying: testing
whether the relationship between LMX and resistance to change or emotional exhaustion was
partially mediated by reappraisal and rumination. Because there were two dependent variables in
this model (resistance to change and emotional exhaustion) two analyses were necessary. The
first step included all the background variables in the regression analysis as predictors. In the
second step LMX was included. The third step included the mediation variables reappraisal and
rumination.
In this study LMX, reappraisal and rumination were included from measurement moment
T1. The variables resistance to change and emotional exhaustion were included from
measurement moment T2. The reason for this choice is partially based on the Affective Events
Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996), which states that emotions mediate the process between an
event and the response that follows. Therefore, in this study it is assumed that LMX would be the
event that cause the emotion regulation strategy. It is likely that the emotions that follows from
an event are closer in time with LMX than with resistance to change and emotional exhaustion.
Furthermore, reappraisal and rumination are two antecedent focused emotion regulation
strategies, which means that people use these strategies to form or change the situation and
emotional impact before the actual emotion is fully developed. In sum, in this study it is therefore
assumed that LMX and the emotion regulation strategies are closer in time, compared to the
emotional regulation strategies and resistance to change and emotional exhaustion.
Results
Prelimary analysis
Prelimary analysis showed that only education and management position were
significantly related to the dependent variable emotional exhaustion and they were therefore
included in the model test. Table 2 in the appendix presents the means, standard deviations,
intercorrelations and reliability estimates of the study variables.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 18
Hypotheses tests
Hypotheses 1a and 1b stated that LMX would be negatively related to resistance to
change and emotional exhaustion. Results from the hierarchical regression analyses are presented
in Table 2 and Table 3. LMX did not have significant relationships with resistance to change (β =
-.13, ns) and emotional exhaustion (β = -.14, ns). Therefore, hypothesis 1a and 1b were not
supported. However, the relationship between LMX and emotional exhaustion almost reached the
significance level. An ad hoc regression analysis showed that LMX did have a significant
relationship with emotional exhaustion when the background variables education and
management position were not included (β = -.19, p < .05). Additionally, it was found that
management position had a significant relationship with resistance to change (β = .21, p < .05)
and with emotional exhaustion (β = .19, p < .05). Education had also a significant relationship
with emotional exhaustion (β = .22, p < .05).
Hypotheses 2a and 2b assumed a positive relationship between LMX and reappraisal and
a negative relationship between LMX and rumination. Results are shown in Table 4. Hierarchical
regression analysis showed that LMX was significantly related to reappraisal (β = .39, p < .01).
Therefore, hypothesis 2a is supported. However, LMX was not significantly related to rumination
(β = .05, ns). Therefore, hypothesis 2b was not confirmed. Additionally, we found a significant
relationship between management position and reappraisal (β = -.26, p < .01).
Hypotheses 3a – 3d stated that reappraisal would be negatively related to resistance to
change and emotional exhaustion; and rumination would be positively related to resistance to
change and emotional exhaustion. Results are shown in Table 2 and Table 3. Reappraisal was
significantly related to both resistance to change (β = -.47, p < .01) and emotional exhaustion (β =
-.31, p < .01). Therefore, hypothesis 3a and 3b were confirmed. With regard to rumination,
results showed that for both resistance to change (β = .07, ns) as for emotional exhaustion (β =
.16, ns) no significant relationships were found. Therefore, hypotheses 3c and 3d were not
confirmed. In addition, it was found that education still had significant relationship with
emotional exhaustion (β = .22, p < .05), after reappraisal and rumination were included in the
hierarchical regression analysis. The significant relationships between management position and
resistance to change and between management position and emotional exhaustion turned into
non-significant relationships after reappraisal and rumination were included.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 19
Hypotheses 4a – 4d assumed that reappraisal and rumination partially mediated the
relationships between LMX and resistance to change and between LMX and emotional
exhaustion. According to Baron and Kenny (1986) three conditions must be met to establish a
mediation effect and this study did not met the condition: LMX must predict resistance to change
and emotional exhaustion. However, in the literature it is stated that the condition (predictor must
predict criterion) of Baron and Kenny (1986) is too hard and therefore the Sobel test (1982) is
suggested (MacKinnon, Lockwoord, Hoffman, West & Sheets, 2002). The Sobel test (1982) is an
approximate test to test the indirect effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable
via the mediator. The results of the Sobel tests showed a significant effect for the mediating
variable reappraisal (Sobel test = -3.29, p < .01) in the relationship between LMX and resistance
to change. The Sobel test also showed a significant mediating effect of reappraisal (Sobel test = -
2.57, p < .01) in the relationship between LMX and emotional exhaustion. Therefore, hypotheses
4a and 4c were confirmed when conducting the Sobel test. Hypotheses 4b and 4d were not
confirmed, as there were no mediating effects found for rumination when conducting the Sobel
test (1982).
Discussion
This study examined how the emotion regulation strategies reappraisal and rumination
influence the relationships between LMX and resistance to change and between LMX and
emotional exhaustion. The role of emotion regulation strategies during organizational change is
investigated in this study and therefore contributes to the organizational change literature. This
study is furthermore of importance because there is limited research about the relationship
between LMX and emotion regulation strategy.
The results of this study did not show direct relationships between LMX and resistance to
change and between LMX and emotional exhaustion. However, via the Sobel test (1982)
mediation effects via indirect effects were found for reappraisal in the relationship LMX -
resistance to change and LMX - emotional exhaustion. Therefore, the findings of this study
support the expectations that reappraisal partly mediate the relationship LMX - resistance to
change and LMX - emotional exhaustion. Employees who had a high quality LMX relationship
with their supervisor, used the reappraisal strategy during the organizational change and
subsequently experienced less resistance to change and were less emotionally exhausted
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 20
compared to employees in low quality LMX relationships. Our findings are in line with AET
theory, which state that emotions mediate the process between affective events and the behavioral
actions that follow (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996). Our findings also confirm the studies of Visser
and Van Dam (2014) and Karreman and Vingerhoets (2012), who found mediation effects for
reappraisal in the relationships between perceived organizational justice - resistance to change
and between attachment styles - well-being. The findings of this study imply that organizational
change processes may evolve more fluently when there are high quality LMX relationships in the
organization.
This study did not support the mediating role of rumination in the relationships between
LMX and resistance to change and between LMX and emotional exhaustion. This is not in line
with the findings of Visser and Van Dam (2014) and Bovey and Hede (2001), who found
significant relationships between rumination and resistance to change, also during an
organizational change setting. The findings are also not in line with the findings of Harrington
and Loffredo (2010) and Ciarrochi and Scott (2006), who found that rumination is a strong
predictor of well-being. However, Harrington and Loffredo (2010) state that rumination occurs in
occasion of negative events and in addition, Paulsen et al. (2005) state that emotional exhaustion
stays consistent during different phases of organizational change. In this study most respondents
indicated that their organization (73.6%) was in the middle of an organizational change and
employees may have not experienced the change as a negative event. Subsequently, it is possible
that employees did not use the rumination strategy and also did not felt emotionally exhausted.
Furthermore, most of these studies (except the study of Ciarrochi & Scott, 2006) had a cross-
sectional research design and this study design was longitudinal, which can have caused
differences in the results.
Another explanation could be the time of the measurements. The hierarchical regression
analyses showed no significant relationships between rumination T1 and resistance to change T2
and between rumination T1 and emotional exhaustion T2. However, ad hoc regression analyses
showed significant relationships between rumination T1 and resistance to change T1 (β = .40, p <
.01) and between rumination T2 and resistance to change T2 (β = .27, p < .01). This also holds
for emotional exhaustion, as ad hoc regression analyses showed significant relationships between
rumination T1 and emotional exhaustion T1 (β = .42, p < .01) and between rumination T2 and
emotional exhaustion T2 (β = .45, p < .01). These results indicate that when employees ruminate,
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 21
it has an immediate effect on their resistance to change and emotional exhaustion, but this effect
disappears when time passes. This would explain that in our model no significant relationships
between rumination and resistance to change and between rumination and emotional exhaustion
were found, as we measured rumination at another moment in time than resistance to change and
emotional exhaustion.
In summary, this study showed the importance of the emotion regulation strategy
reappraisal during organizational change. Using this adaptive emotion regulation strategy leads to
less resistance to change and less emotional exhaustion during organizational changes. For the
maladaptive emotion regulation strategy rumination no significant associations were found,
regarding the conceptual model in this study. However, ad hoc analyses showed that rumination
does have a significant relationship with resistance to change and emotional exhaustion at the
same moment when rumination occurs. According to the literature rumination is problematic
because it causes distracting behavior and it limits the focus on alternative cognitions, which
could relieve the negative thoughts (Grisham, Flower, Williams & Moulds, 2011). Rumination
can thereby hinder an organizational change process and it also appears that many organizational
change programs fail due to employees’ resistance to change (Bovey & Hede, 2001).
Furthermore, past research showed that rumination can lead to depressive symptoms, mental and
physical disorders, serious health problems and a lower overall quality of life (Nolen-Hoeksema
& Morrow, 1993; Raes, 2010; Leahy, 2007; Just & Alloy, 1997; Harrington & Loffredo, 2010;
Ciarrochi & Scott, 2006). It is therefore important to do further research on the role of rumination
in organizational change processes and the relationships with resistance to change and emotional
exhaustion.
Limitations and recommendations
Several limitations deserve attention to accurately interpret the results of this study. First,
this study has a longitudinal character. A longitudinal design is used to reduce common method
bias which occurs at cross-sectional research. However, a longitudinal design over longer time
may overcome even more shortcomings from cross-sectional research.
Second, even though common method bias is reduced by using two measurement
moments, this study used a self-reporting questionnaire which could partly be the reason for the
relationships found between the variables. Although it is difficult to obtain data from different
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 22
sources and methods on this topic, for future research it is recommended to use measures from
different sources and methods. Methods like interviews, surveys and experiments can be used in
combination with self-reporting instruments and data from colleagues and supervisors. The use of
multiple methods is necessary to achieve a better and more complete understanding of emotion
regulation strategies (Gross et al., 2006).
Third, a limitation of this study is the use of convenience sampling. The researchers
contacted their social network to find organizations who were willing to participate in this study.
Therefore, the participating organizations in this study were not randomly selected and therefore
results cannot be easily generalized to the population. However, because the organizations were
from different branches it could benefit generalization.
Fourth, the data used in this study has both advantages as disadvantages. An advantage of
this data is that most organizations were in the middle of an organizational change (73.9%),
whereby the research topic was contemporary and easily to recall for employees while filling out
the questionnaire. Another advantage is the diverse data, since it contains information from
employees from nine different organizations. However, because nine organizations with different
cultures were included, the questionnaire could be interpreted differently by the employees. This
can have caused noise in the data. Another limitation is that the N of this study is not very large
(N = 111).
Fifth, a limitation in this study is the difference between the group who filled out the
questionnaire once and the group who filled out the questionnaire twice. The group who filled out
the questionnaire once scored lower on LMX and higher on rumination and resistance to change.
This means that the group who filled out the questionnaire once, had a slightly worse relationship
with their supervisor, ruminated a little more and had a bit more resistance to the change. If this
group had been willing to fill out the questionnaire twice, the results may have differed, in
particular the results regarding rumination and resistance to change. For future research it is
recommended to include other stimuli (besides sending a reminder) to convince respondents to
participate for the second time.
At last, even though this study provides interesting theoretical and practical implications,
the field of emotion regulation is still in its primary phase. Future research can broaden the
theoretical foundations about emotion regulation during organizational changes. The way people
regulate emotions is personally and can depend partly on personality traits. For future research it
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 23
is therefore recommended to investigate the role of personality traits in the emotion regulation
processes. Furthermore, to extent the current literature about emotion regulation it is also
recommended to include other organizational and employee outcomes such as organizational
performance, organizational citizenship behavior, turnover, employee well-being, engagement,
performance et cetera
Practical implications
The results of this study can be used by practitioners to improve and steer employees’
emotions during organizational changes. As many organizational change programs fail due to
employees’ resistance to change, this study can provide interesting insights for practioners to help
organizations succeed in organizational change (Bovey & Hede, 2001). This study indicates that
high quality LMX relationships contribute to the use of the adaptive emotion regulation strategy
reappraisal by employees during organizational change situations. In turn, the use of reappraisal
results in less resistance to the change and less emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, high quality
LMX relationships also contribute to a better employee health and well-being, whereby the
organization can save money which otherwise was spent on higher absenteeism, reduced
productivity and higher health insurances (Danna & Griffin, 1999)
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Appendix
Questionnaire items:
LMX scale:
1. My supervisor is willing to personally help me with solving problems at my work.
2. My work relationship with my supervisor is good.
3. I have enough faith in my supervisor to defend and justify his/her decisions when he/she
is not present.
4. My supervisor takes my suggestions for changes into account.
5. My supervisor and I complement each other.
6. My supervisor understands my problems and need well.
7. My supervisor sees what talent I have.
Reappraisal scale: Contact Karen van Dam
Rumination scale: Contact Karen van Dam
Resistance to change scale:
1. I believe that the change will have a negative effect on my work.
2. I think it’s good that the change takes place.
3. I am open to consider and try out the change.
4. I believe that the change will not benefit the department.
5. I think the change will personally benefit me.
6. I am afraid for the consequences of the change.
7. I have a bad feeling regarding the change.
8. The change makes me mad.
9. The change stresses me out.
10. I tend to oppose the change.
11. I tend to resist the change.
12. I am searching for ways to prevent the changes.
13. I reject the changes that resulted from the change.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 31
14. I complain about the change to my friends and colleagues.
15. I express my objections of the change to members of the management.
Emotional exhaustion scale:
1. I feel mentally exhausted by my work.
2. A whole day of work is a heavy burden for me.
3. I feel ‘burned’ by my work.
4. At the end of the day I feel empty.
5. I feel tired when I get up in the morning and there is another working day for me again.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 32
TABLE 1
Principal Component Analysis
Component
1 2 3 4 5
LMX item 1 .839
LMX item 2 .789
LMX item 3 .806
LMX item 4 .833
LMX item 5 .839
LMX item 6 .896
LMX item 7 .714
Reappraisal item 2 .834
Reappraisal item 3 .844
Reappraisal item 4 .754
Reappraisal item 5 .863
Rumination item 1 .704
Rumination item 2 .818
Rumination item 3 .878
Rumination item 4 .817
Resistance item 1 .532
Resistance item 2 .405
Resistance item 4 .574
Resistance item 6 .673
Resistance item 7 .758
Resistance item 8 .815
Resistance item 9 .657
Resistance item 10 .734
Resistance item 11 .836
Resistance item 12 .801
Resistance item 13 .812
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 33
Resistance item 14 .722
Resistance item 15 .667
Emotional Exhaustion item 1 .840
Emotional Exhaustion item 2 .792
Emotional Exhaustion item 3 .855
Emotional Exhaustion item 4 .869
Emotional Exhaustion item 5 .770
Note: factors < .35 are not presented
TABLE 2
Means, Standard Deviations, Intercorrelations, and Reliability Estimates
Variable N M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Age 111 42. 27 10. 37
2. Tenure 111 14. 00 11. 66 . 68**
3. Gender 111 1. 49 . 50 . 17 . 04
4. Education 111 3. 92 . 83 -. 28** -. 34** -. 06
5. Management position 111 1. 89 . 31 -. 17 -. 04 -. 18 -. 11
6. T1 LMX 111 3. 24 . 56 -. 03 -. 04 . 04 -. 18 . 06 (. 92)
7. T2 LMX 107 3. 80 . 63 . 07 -. 03 . 04 -. 17 . 21* . 74** (. 93)
8. T1 Reappraisal 111 3. 42 . 81 . 11 . 04 . 02 -. 04 . 28** . 41** . 38**
9. T2 Reappraisal 107 3. 33 . 86 . 15 . 06 -. 03 -. 00 . 29** . 21* . 29**
10. T1 Rumination 111 1. 83 . 63 -. 05 . 04 . 07 . 01 . 19 . 06 -. 08
11. T2 Rumination 107 1. 66 . 55 . 05 . 23* . 09 . 02 . 03 . 04 -. 09
12. T1 Resistance to change 111 1. 89 . 59 -. 14 -. 04 . 08 . 11 -. 15 -. 21* -. 28**
13. T2 Resistance to change 110 2. 21 . 68 -. 02 . 09 -. 10 . 04 -. 22* -. 15 -. 25**
14. T1 Emotional exhaustion 111 2. 20 1. 02 -. 25** -. 16 . 10 . 18 -. 11 -. 08 -. 23*
15. T2 Emotional exhaustion 111 2. 10 . 80 -. 16 -. 01 . 00 . 23* -. 18 -. 19* -. 28**
Variable 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1. Age
2. Tenure
3. Gender
4. Education
5. Management position
6. T1 LMX
7. T2 LMX
8. T1 Reappraisal (. 90)
9. T2 Reappraisal . 59** (. 85)
10. T1 Rumination -. 04 -. 07 (. 83)
11. T2 Rumination -. 06 -. 07 . 44** (. 81)
12. T1 Resistance to change -. 56** -. 41** . 35** . 32** (. 93)
13. T2 Resistance to change -. 48** -. 52** . 07 . 25** . 55** (. 93)
14. T1 Emotional exhaustion -. 28** -. 20* . 41** . 46** . 46** . 23* (. 93)
15. T2 Emotional exhaustion -. 38** -. 34** . 14 . 47** . 39** . 46** . 69** (. 91)
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate internal consistency reliability estimates. Gender: 1 = male; 2 = female. Education: 1 = primary education; 2 =
secondary education; 3 = lower vocational education; 4 = higher vocational education; 5 = university. Management position: 0 = no, 1 = yes.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 35
TABLE 3
Results hierarchical regression analysis, dependent variable: T2 resistance to change
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Background variables
T1 Education .06 .04 .03
T1 Management position -.22 * -.21 * .11
Independent variables
T1 LMX -.13 .05
T1 Reappraisal -.47 ***
T1 Rumination .07
R² .05 .07 .25
Δ R² .05 .02 .18
Δ F 2.85 1.77 12.60 ***
Note: * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
TABLE 4
Results hierarchical regression analysis, dependent variable: T2 emotional exhaustion
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
Background variables
T1 Education .25 ** .22 * .22 *
T1 Management position -.21 * -.20 * -.15
Independent variables
T1 LMX -.14 -.03
T1 Reappraisal -.31 **
T1 Rumination .16
R² .09 .11 .22
Δ R² .09 .02 .11
Δ F 5.56 * 2.23 7.18 **
Note: * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
LMX, EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES 36
TABLE 5
Model 1
T1 Reappraisal
Model 2
T1 Reappraisal
Model 1
T1 Rumination
Model 1
T1 Rumination
Background variables
T1 Education -.07 -.00 -.01 -.00
T1 Management position .29 * .26 * .19 .18
Independent variables
T1 LMX .39 *** .05
R² .08 .23 .03 .04
Δ R² .08 .15 .03 .00
Δ F 4.89 ** 20.14 *** 1.92 .22