Linking Workplace Aggression to Employee Well-Being and Work: The Moderating Role of Family-Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB)

Abstract

Purpose The present study examined the moderating effects of family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) on the relationship between two types of workplace aggression (i.e., patient-initiated physical aggression and coworker-initiated psychological aggression) and employee well-being and work outcomes. Methodology Data were obtained from a field sample of 417 healthcare workers in two psychiatric hospitals. Hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression analyses. Findings Psychiatric care providers’ perceptions of FSSB moderated the relationship between patient-initiated physical aggression and physical symptoms, exhaustion and cynicism. In addition, FSSB moderated the relationship between coworker-initiated psychological aggression and physical symptoms and turnover intentions. Implications Based on our findings, family-supportive supervision is a plausible boundary condition for the relationship between workplace aggression and well-being and work outcomes. This study suggests that, in addition to directly addressing aggression prevention and reduction, family-supportive supervision is a trainable resource that healthcare organizations should facilitate to improve employee work and well-being in settings with high workplace aggression. Originality This is the first study to examine the role of FSSB in influencing the relationship between two forms of workplace aggression: patient-initiated physical and coworker- initiated psychological aggression and employee outcomes.

Family‐supportive supervisor behaviors: A review and recommendations for research and practice

“…Interestingly, work from Behson () suggests that FSSB explains more variance in employee stress than more structured means of work–family support, including work schedule flexibility and work–family benefits. In recent studies, the burnout dimension of exhaustion from both the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory showed negative relationships with FSSB (Koch & Binnewies, ; Yragui et al, ). Thomas and Ganster () also found that FSSB is indirectly related to depression through control and WFC.…”

“…Two studies examined cardiovascular disease risk factors including smoking habits, obesity, cholesterol, and diabetes, with one finding no significant relations with FSSB (Berkman et al, 2015), whereas the other demonstrated negative associations when FSSB was measured with managers' work-family support scores (Berkman et al, 2010). However, a relationship was not found between an aggregated measure of self-reported stressrelated symptoms (e.g., difficulty sleeping, and headaches) and FSSB (Yragui, Demsky, Hammer, Van Dyck, & Neradilek, 2016).…”

“…Zhang and Tu () found that ethical leadership had a stronger positive effect on WTFE when leaders also exhibited FSSB, and similar moderating effects of FSSB were found on the indirect effects of ethical leadership on employee life and family satisfaction through WTFE. Lastly, within a sample of psychiatric care providers, results from Yragui et al's () study indicated that FSSB moderated the relationship between patient physical aggression and employee work and well‐being outcomes, including job dissatisfaction, turnover intentions, stress‐related physical outcomes, burnout‐exhaustion, and burnout‐cynicism. Similarly, they also found that FSSB moderated the relationship between coworker psychological aggression and the same employee work and well‐being outcomes.…”

“…Although neither Hammer et al () nor Straub () conceptualized FSSB as a moderator, the notion of social support as a moderating resource is largely in line with existing theories frequently used in work–family research, such as conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, ) and the work–home resources model (Ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, ). It is interesting to note that the four articles testing the moderating role of FSSB used quite distinct models; Zhang and Tu () focused exclusively on work–family outcomes, whereas Crain et al () and O'Driscoll et al () examined health outcomes, and Yragui et al () looked at both health‐ and work‐related outcomes.…”

Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors and Family-Like Employee-Organization Relationship: Effects on Employees Organizational Citizen Behavior

“…Germeys and Sara (2017) argued that family supportive supervisor behaviors moderate the relationship between experiencing home-work conflict and an employee's performance of counterproductive work behavior [11]. In a survey of healthcare workers, Yragui, Demsky, Hammer, Dyck, & Neradilek (2017) testified the moderating effects of family-supportive supervisor behaviors on the relationship between two types of workplace aggression and employee well-being and work outcomes [12].…”