The Emergence of Family-specific Support Constructs: Cross-level Effects of Family-supportive Supervision and Family-Supportive Organization Perceptions on Individual Outcomes.

Implicit to the definitions of both family-supportive supervision (FSS) and family-supportive organization perceptions (FSOP) is the argument that these constructs may manifest at a higher (e.g. group or organizational) level. In line with these conceptualizations, grounded in tenants of conservation of resources theory, we argue that FSS and FSOP, as universal resources, are emergent constructs at the organizational level, which have cross-level effects on work-family conflict and turnover intentions. To test our theoretically derived hypotheses, a multilevel model was examined in which FSS and FSOP at the unit level predict individual work-to-family conflict, which in turn predicts turnover intentions. Our hypothesized model was generally supported. Collectively, our results point to FSOP serving as an explanatory mechanism of the effects that mutual perceptions of FSS have on individual experiences of work-to-family conflict and turnover intentions. Lagged (i.e. overtime) cross-level effects of the model were also confirmed in supplementary analyses. Our results extend our theoretical understanding of FSS and FSOP by demonstrating the utility of conceptualizing them as universal resources, opening up a variety of avenues for future research.