Ambivalence is the experience of both positive and negative evaluations regarding an object such as a person or an event. Although interest in leadership ambivalence has been growing among researchers, there is still little understanding of what distinguishes it from poor leadership. The goal of this dissertation was to contribute to the leadership ambivalence literature by examining ambivalence in the leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship through the lens of occupational stress. Specifically, I used the job demands-resources model as a theoretical foundation and presented leadership ambivalence as a unique job demand that is associated with emotional exhaustion as a symptom of strain after controlling for LMX quality. I also examined the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of various personal resources. While leadership ambivalence was not a significant direct predictor of emotional exhaustion, the results supported rumination as a mediator of a significant indirect relationship between the two variables. Optimism, tolerance for ambiguity, and neuroticism were not significant moderators of the effect of leadership ambivalence. However, internal locus of control moderated the relationship between leadership ambivalence and rumination such that the relationship was stronger for those with low internality. In further supplementary analysis, the results were validated using an alternative measure of leadership ambivalence.