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Cross-Domain Effects of Ethical Leadership on Employee Family and Life Satisfaction: the Moderating Role of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors

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Abstract

Drawing on the work–family enrichment theory, the present study investigates the cross-domain effects of ethical leadership on employees’ family and life satisfaction. Moreover, it focuses on the mediating role of work–family enrichment (WFE) and the moderated mediation process of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) underlying the relationship between ethical leadership and employees’ family and life satisfaction. Using a sample of 371 employees and their immediate supervisors in China, we found that WFE mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employee-rated and supervisor-rated family and life satisfaction. Moreover, FSSB positively moderated the relationship between ethical leadership and WFE, such that the relationship was strengthened when FSSB were higher. Furthermore, the mediations of WFE between ethical leadership and employee-rated and supervisor-rated family and life satisfaction were also positively moderated by FSSB, such that the indirect effects were stronger when FSSB were higher. The theoretical and managerial implications of our findings are further discussed.

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Notes

  1. We appreciate the anonymous reviewer’s concern regarding the measurement of a 6-item questionnaire which was adopted from a 15-item ethical leadership questionnaire (Yukl et al. 2013). To address this concern, we conducted a supplemental analysis to examine the validity of the six-item scale. Specifically, we distributed questionnaires containing 15 items to 70 MBA students (full-time employees) in a prestigious Chinese business school and 58 questionnaires were valid. The results revealed that the Cronbach’s alpha of the 6-item and 15-item scales were 0.93 and 0.95, respectively, and the correlation between these two scales was 0.95 (p < .001). Thus, we concluded that the 6-item scale captured the essentials of the 15-item scale and the 6-item scale was valid.

Abbreviations

FSSB:

Family-supportive supervisor behaviors

WFE:

Work–family enrichment

CMB:

Common method bias

ICC:

Intra-class correlations

CFA:

Confirmatory factor analysis

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 71402127; 71372125) and 2014–2015 International Scholar Exchange Fellowship program of Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies. We also thank Professor Xiaohua Wang from Renmin University of China for his insightful comments and suggestions.

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  1. School of Business, Renmin University of China, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Shuxia Zhang

  2. School of Economics and Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China

    Yidong Tu

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  1. Shuxia Zhang
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Zhang, S., Tu, Y. Cross-Domain Effects of Ethical Leadership on Employee Family and Life Satisfaction: the Moderating Role of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors. J Bus Ethics 152, 1085–1097 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3306-4

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