l 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

Summary of findings

The discussed literature makes clear that gender stereotypes often shape expectations and evaluations. These gender-based schemas can be of large influence on the development and/or maintenance of LMX, because people tend to ignore the actual behaviour and/or performance of others if it is incongruent with their expectations (Adebayo & Udegbe, 2004). Literature on gender stereotypes in LMX has several suggestions on which dyadic relationships seem to be of lowest and highest quality. Goertzen and Fritz (2004) suggest that female leaders have lower LMX, with both male and female subordinates; Adebayo and Udegbe (2004) argue that female-female d