Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Psychology

Date of Defense

8-3-2010

Graduate Advisor

James A. Breaugh, PhD

Committee

Deborah Balser

Therese Macan

Mark Tubbs

Abstract

Work-nonwork conflict remains a crucial concern for both employees struggling to balance work and non-work roles (Bond, Thompson, Galinsky, & Prottas, 2002) and companies seeking to enhance their ability to attract, retain, and leverage talent (De Janasz & Behson, 2007; Towers & Perrin, 2006). Research has demonstrated that factors such as supervisor support for work-nonwork balance can reduce employees’ experience of work-nonwork conflict. Few studies, however, have investigated the individual characteristics of supervisors who are most likely to provide work-nonwork support. This study extends previous research by investigating the relationships between supervisors’ identity salience, work-nonwork support attitudes, and perceptions of work-nonwork support instrumentality (effectiveness) and the provision of two types of social support for work-nonwork balance: instrumental support and emotional support. Analyses were conducted using multiple regression, correlation and one-way ANOVA procedures. Results did not indicate that supervisors with more positive attitudes towards supervisor work-nonwork support are perceived by employees as demonstrating higher levels of instrumental and emotional work-nonwork support. No mediation effects were found for supervisor perceptions of instrumental and emotional support’s effectiveness in reducing employee work-nonwork conflict. Finally, results did not indicate that supervisors with a dual-centric identity are perceived by employees as demonstrating higher levels of instrumental and emotional work-nonwork support. Implications for future research are discussed.

OCLC Number

676843117

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Psychology Commons

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