The Effect Of Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors On Work Support From Spouse: A Moderated Mediating Model

Given the higher percent of women and dual-earner couples in the workforce, more and more organizations start to offer informal policies to help their employees manage needs from work field and family field. Among the informal policies, the support from employees' supervisor is particularly important, for the reason that the supervisor is not only the founder of the family supportive organization culture, but also the effective implementation of family policy defenders. Under this background, family supportive supervisor behavior(FSSB) emerges as the times require. A series of researches have been carried out on the family supportive supervisor behavior. It is found that family supportive supervisor behavior has influenced employee's work field, family field, work family boundary management, health and well-being. But studies pay less attention to employees' significant others in the family, especially the spouses. In fact,the emotion,attitude and behavior of the spouse may determine the attitude and performance of the employee in the organization. In this study, we discussed the influence of family supportive supervisor behavior on the spouse's work support to employee,by focusing on dual-earner couples. The spillover-crossover perspective may help organizations and employees get a better understanding of this particular workplace support resource.In study 1, a questionnaire survey, including family supportive supervisor behavior,work-family enrichment and work support from spouse, was conducted among 228 female employees. Results show that (1) family supportive supervisor behavior has positive correlation with work support from spouse; (2) work-family enrichment plays the role of mediator in the relationship. Based on the Model of Thriving through Relation Support and Resource-Gain-Development perspective, family supportive supervisor behavior can develop into a valuable resource in employee's family field, which can help employees better fulfill their family responsibilities, ease the work family conflict and improve family function. Further, as an important member of the employee in the field of family, spouse can also feel the convenience and welfare which provided by organization.For the return obligation, spouse may have positive cognitive, emotion and attitude to the organization, which make them to support employee to better serve the organization, eventually transforming the resource back to work. Through the interaction between the employee and the spouse, it completes the virtuous cycle of resources in the field of work and family.In study 2, 252 male employees were investigated. Results show that (1) family supportive supervisor behavior has a positive effect on work support from spouse though work-family enrichment; (2) Marital closeness moderates the relationship above.Specifically, spouse who has higher level of closeness may offer more work support to employee when work-family enrichment occours. based on the Model of Thriving through Relation Support.At the atmosphere of higher level of closeness, not only spouse can master better skills, more resources and more altruistic motives, but also employee can take more initiative to seek help, which contributed to more work support.Overall, this study emphasizes the influence of family supportive supervisor behavior on the employee's spouse, and provides advice for the enterprise management practice.