STATUS INCONGRUENCE IN SUPERVISOR-SUBORDINATE DYADS-THE EFFECTS ON SUBORDINATE JOB SATISFACTION AND CREATIVE PERFORMANCE

Extant research on status incongruence has begun to explore the resulting tensions it may engender between supervisor and subordinate, yet it excludes the role of other demographic factors beyond age which influence status perceptions. We draw on role congruity theory to examine how organizational culture influences whether supervisor-subordinate dyadic status incongruence has a negative or positive impact on subordinate job satisfaction and creative performance. We find that status incongruence reduces job satisfaction when supervisor-subordinate dyads work in a hierarchical organizational culture (i.e. low clan organizational culture), and job satisfaction increases for supervisor-subordinate dyads that work in a clan organizational culture (i.e. high clan organizational culture). Furthermore, these effects on job satisfaction ultimately impacted subordinate creative job performance, supporting a moderated-mediation model. Implications for future research on status incongruence are discussed.