The Role of Demographics: Who Engages in and Who Benefits from Family Supportive Supervisor Behavior?
Organizations have traditionally instituted formal workplace benefits to help employees alleviate the stress of work-family conflict. However, largely due to implementation difficulties, the effectiveness of formal work-family benefits is questionable. Informal workplace supports, such as family supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB) provide a better explanation for employee well-being. However, we know little about what predicts FSSB or about which employees benefit from it the most. Thus, the purpose of this study is to empirically examine demographic predictors of FSSB and of which employees benefit most from FSSB. Drawing on social identity theory, a research model is proposed to examine whether an individual’s demographic characteristics, operationalized as gender identity, marital status and parental status predicts FSSB. In addition, this study explores whether FSSB relates to employee task performance and whether this relationship is mediated by work-family conflict. From an academic perspective, this model may contribute to the literature by expanding the nomological network of FSSB to include potential predictors. From a practitioner perspective, this study will provide insight regarding existing supervisor work-family related competencies as well as, opportunities for development and training.
Family Supportive Supervisor Behavior, work-family conflict, social identity theory, Organizational Behavior and Theory
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