Abstract
Van Breukelen, Konst, and van der Vlist in 2002 examined how members' perceptions of differential treatment from the leader affect the relationship between Leader-Member exchange and work unit commitment. This paper offers commentary, with specific focus on the judgment call for examining continuous effects across all levels of differential treatment. To justify the role of differential treatment as a neutralizer that weakens the influence of Leader-Member exchange on work unit commitment, the regression coefficients of work unit commitment on Leader-Member Exchange should be examined continuously with discriminable differential treatment. As a caution against using “neutralizer” based on the research results presented, “moderator” is suggested as the more appropriate descriptor of the role that differential treatment played. Also, the nature of the interaction between Leader-Member exchange quality and work unit commitment is explored, suggesting research should focus more on the main effects.
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