The predictive utility of the vertical dyad linkage approach

In a constructive replication of past vertical dyad linkage (VDL) research, the leader-member exchange scores of 192 hospital employees in the United States were used to predict reports of felt equity and satisfaction, as well as employment status over a one-year period. Although the results failed to establish leader-member exchange as predictive of employee turnover, leader-member exchange was closely associated with satisfaction and felt equity. These results suggest that previous findings reported by Graen, Liden, and Hoel (1982) and Ferris (1985) should not be overgeneralized and that additional conceptual refinement of the VDL approach may be necessary.