The benefits of exhibiting family-supportive supervisor behaviors: An investigation of the effects of reducing supervisors’ work-family conflict

• Main Author: JIANG, Jacky
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: FSSB; WFC; personal skill development; emotional exhaustion; Family, Life Course, and Society; Work, Economy and Organizations
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/272; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1272&context=etd_coll
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The benefits of family-supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB) for subordinates’ work and family outcomes have been the focus of previous studies, but little research has examined the positive impact of FSSB on supervisors’ family outcomes. To address this research gap and contribute to the leader and family literature, the negative relationship between FSSB and work-to-family conflict (WFC) is examined in this study, focusing on the mediating role of personal skill development. In addition, I propose that emotional exhaustion moderates the main effect of FSSB on personal skill development and the indirect effect of FSSB on WFC via personal skill development. A three-wave field study was conducted at a bank in China to obtain dyadic data on supervisors and subordinates. Regression and bootstrapping analyses were conducted to test the proposed model and hypotheses. Most of the hypotheses were supported by the data. Personal skill development was found to mediate the relationship between FSSB and WFC, and emotional exhaustion alleviated the main effect of FSSB on personal skill development but not its indirect effect on WFC via personal skill development. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.