The Dark Side of Great LMX Relationships: Why Your Best Employees Might Be Burning Out

Abstract

While workplace relationships are widely considered beneficial for employee well-being, a paradox emerges when employees with the strongest leader relationships experience burnout despite receiving excellent support. This contradiction suggests that these very same relationships may create psychological pressure to reciprocate support and result in employee burnout. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory and Conservation of Resources theory, I examine whether felt obligation resulting from Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) relationships contributes to employee burnout across the full spectrum of LMX quality relationships. I argue that LMX quality creates felt obligation to reciprocate leader support. This obligation, in turn, depletes emotional resources and leads to increased burnout. I tested a mediation model where LMX quality would increase felt obligation, which then would predict burnout (measured as emotional exhaustion). I collected data from 364 full-time employees across diverse industries using a three-wave longitudinal design with one-week intervals to establish temporal precedence and reduce common method bias. LMX quality strongly predicted felt obligation as predicted. However, the results contradicted my remaining hypotheses, revealing an unexpected “bright side” mechanism rather than the hypothesized “dark side”. The mediation pathway was not supported as felt obligation did not significantly relate to burnout and displayed a protective trend. Moreover, independent of felt obligation, LMX quality directly buffered against burnout. These findings challenge assumptions about workplace relationships, demonstrating that LMX relationships and the obligation they generate protect against employee burnout rather than contribute to it. The results present a paradigm shift from viewing workplace relationships as sources of strain to protective resources of employee well-being. Theoretically, it challenges “too-much-of-a-good-thing” assumptions by showing linear rather than curvilinear relationships across the full spectrum of LMX quality. Practically, it provides support for relationship-focused burnout prevention strategies. Additional theoretical and practical implications, as well as avenues for future research, are also discussed