Family supportive supervisor behaviors and work engagement: A social information processing perspective

Abstract

Based on the social information processing theory and attribution theory, the present study examined the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and employee work engagement, as well as the mediating role of loyalty to supervisor and the moderating role of attribution of intentions for FSSB. We collected two waves of data with a 6-month lag from 310 Chinese employees (age range 20–56, M = 33.32, SD = 7.11). We tested a moderated mediation model for our hypotheses and found that FSSB positively predicted employee work engagement through loyalty to supervisor. Moreover, the positive relationship between FSSB and loyalty to supervisor and the indirect effect of FSSB on work engagement through loyalty to supervisor were stronger for employees with low external attribution of intentions for FSSB (i.e., believing that supervisors’ FSSB is driven by their internal motivation instead of organizational expectations). The present study contributes to understanding potential emotional mechanisms in the relationship between FSSB and work engagement and how attribution might serve as an important boundary condition. Moreover, our findings have practical implications for fostering employee engagement in the workplace.