Affiliative and aggressive humour in leadership and their relationship to leader-member exchange

In this study, we investigate the relationship between affiliative and aggressive humour of the leader and the quality of relationship between leader and follower in terms of leader-member exchange (LMX), assuming identification with the leader to mediate this relationship. We conducted a 2-wave survey study with a time lag of 6weeks (N=152). We found affiliative humour of the leader rated at Time 1 to be positively related to LMX at Time 2, even after controlling for LMX at Time 1, whereas aggressive humour was negatively related to LMX at Time 2. Identification with the leader mediated the relationship between affiliative humour of the leader and LMX but did not mediate the relationship between aggressive humour and LMX. Our results contribute to the understanding of leader behaviours that contribute to a positive professional relationship between leader and follower as well as to the understanding of the relational processes that may explain the effects of humour in leadership.