As could be deducted from the literature discussed above, most studies conducted on this topic address similarity, without specifically looking at dissimilarity. A study that did look at this was one conducted by Green, Anderson, and Shivers (1996). Their results indicated that sex dissimilarity is related to lower quality LMX. However, these findings are to be interpreted with caution as the sample was dominantly female. To conclude, the findings on the effect of (dis)similarity on LMX are contradictory. A reason for this could be that the effects of (dis)similarity in demographics, in this case gender, may be too widespread and asymmetric across different groups and cultures (Douglas, 2012).

Gender, LMX, and OCB

Organizational citizenship behaviour, also know as “extra-role behaviour”, is the act of taking on tasks that are not formally assigned to the employee but that do affect the organization’s performance. These behaviours include helping colleagues, doing extra work, and avoiding unnecessary conflicts (Robbins, 2001; Estiri, Amiri, Khajeheian, & Rajey, 2017). Researchers claim that OCB consists of different dimensions, including altruism, conscientiousness, civic virtue, and sportsmanship (Netemeyer, Moles, Mckee, & McMurrian, 1997; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000). Altruism is the concern for others (e.g. voluntarily helping colleagues); conscientiousness is the willingness to perform one’s tasks in the best way possible; civic virtues include respecting the organization’s regulations and acting responsibly on the work floor; and sportsmanship mainly includes being able to take criticism and give constructive feedback.
Many variables seem to affect OCB, including confidence, organizational justice, trust, commitment, etc. However, leadership styles, and particularly LMX, seem to have the largest effect. Research suggests a positive relationship between LMX and OCB (Estiri et al., 2017). Furthermore, it is suggested that gender has a significant impact on OCB. Several studies have found women to be more likely to display OCB, and this relationship is explained by their higher level of sentimentality compared to men (Kidder, 2002; Bommer, Miles, & Grover, 2003; Estiri et al., 2017). Women seem to, more than men, perceive OCB as intra-role behaviour than extra-role behaviour. In other words, women consider OCB as part of their job (Hackett, 2008).
In their 2017 study, Estiri et al. aimed to investigate whether gender plays a moderating role in the relationship between OCB and LMX. They found that women have the wish to be more involved in the organization, as civic behaviours were found to be higher amongst women compared to men. In general, women showed a higher level of OCB. When LMX was found to be low, there were no significant gender differences in sportsmanship. However, when LMX levels were higher, women tended to display more sportsmanship. Furthermore, women were found to be more conscientious than men, in both high and low LMX levels. Despite these gender differences, gender did not moderate between OCB and LMX. Limitations of this study included the small sample size, and the lack of generalizability, as the sample only consisted of Iranian hotel employees.

Discussion