Managers Family-Supportive Supervisory Behaviors: A Multilevel Perspective

Using a combination of trait and situational variables we develop a model to explore the antecedents of managers family-supportive behaviors. Our model hypotheses were tested using data gathered from a sample of 312 subordinates matched to 92 managers. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) of the nested data yielded results that show both an individual managers trait (i.e., empathy) and situational variables (i.e., subordinates family-to-work conflict and leader-subordinate exchange quality) significantly predicted managers supportive behaviors. Additional HLM analyses showed that the managers gender (trait) and group work-to-family conflict (situation) moderated the relationship between managers empathy and family-supportive behaviors. Our results suggest that managers family-supportive behaviors are related to individual characteristics of the manager and to subordinate workgroup contexts, but not to organizational culture.