Development and Validation of a Measure of Leader Rapport Management: The LRM Scale

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a scale to measure the construct of leadership rapport management (LRM) and demonstrate its potential impact on relationships between supervisors and subordinates. A brief review of the construct is presented along with its anticipated theoretical and empirical relationships with constructs that might be closely related such as LMX, perceived supervisor support, trust, and interactional justice. Construct definitions are developed and items for an LRM measure are evaluated using a three-sample validation study. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis results reveal a three-factor model of LRM and preliminary evidence of reliability and construct validity is provided.