The double-edged sword of manager caring behavior: Implications for employee wellbeing.

Abstract

While managers play a critical role in supporting employee wellbeing, prior research suggests that doing so can take a toll on managers themselves. However, we know little about the potential implications of this for employees. Drawing from the leadership-wellbeing literature and social psychological theories of guilt, we propose that manager caring behavior is associated with both positive (vitality) and negative (guilt) employee wellbeing. We find support for these relationships in Study 1 (N = 264) with a time-separated survey. In Study 2, we replicate these findings, and in addition, we examine a negative perceptual response to manager care: employee-rated manager role overload. Drawing on perceptual salience research, we propose that the negative relationship between manager care and employee-rated manager role overload is exacerbated in a team environment where employees fail to care for each other (i.e., a weak caring climate). Study 2 (N = 360) largely supports our hypotheses with multilevel, time-separated field data. The findings suggest that managers should not be expected to “go it alone” to support employee wellbeing because doing so may relate negatively to employee outcomes.

From microscopic to macroscopic perspectives and back: The study of leadership and health/well-being.

“…Intuitively, one could assume that managers’ caring behavior will improve follower well-being. In contrast to this intuitive idea, Boekhorst et al provide a much more nuanced view suggesting that manager caring behavior can also have negative consequences by making followers feel guilty.…”

“…For instance, in industry sectors that have traditionally been characterized by long working hours and high job demands such as finance and banking, it may not be viewed as "acceptable" to show vulnerability and may be more difficult and risky to discuss mental health issues (as a leader and follower). Boekhorst et al (2021) found that in teams with a low caring climate, manager caring behavior can signal role overload to employees-so possibly unintended negative perceptions of difficulties in navigating their own workload.…”

“…Research and empirical findings on leadership and well-being of followers and leaders are not always intuitive—pointing in Lewin’s terms to different forces that are at play when examining leadership behavior and employee well-being. For instance, Boekhorst et al (2021) studied manager caring behavior. Intuitively, one could assume that managers’ caring behavior will improve follower well-being.…”

Self-leadership as an attribute of service leadership: Its relationship to well-being among university students in Hong Kong

“…Nevertheless, there are views suggesting that over-use of care, such as "compassion fatigue" and "overloaded supervisor care, " may lead to negative outcomes (e.g., Duarte and Pinto-Gouveia, 2017). For example, Boekhorst et al (2021) showed that while managerial caring behavior was positively correlated with employee vitality in the workplace, its negative effect appears to be more pronounced when there were employee-rated manager overload and employee guilt.…”

Проблема Суб’єктивного Професійного Благополуччя Особистості У Сучасній Психології

“…Показано вплив різноманітних об'єктивних і суб'єктивних факторів на професійне благополуччя особистості. Професійне благополуччя пов'язане з організаційною культурою [16], а також із культурою управлінської взаємодії [17]. Фактором, що сильно підриває професійне здоров'я і почуття благополуччя були визнані плітки на робочому місці [18].…”