Reciprocation at work: the role of work to family enrichment and family role salience

This study investigated the main and conditional indirect effects of emotional and instrumental family related social supports from coworkers on person and task focused interpersonal citizenship behavior (ICBs). We incorporated work to family enrichment as mediator and family role salience as moderator in conditional indirect effect paths. Primary data were collected through the survey questionnaire in dyads from the employees and their immediate supervisors (N = 401). The results showed that the main and conditional indirect effects of emotional and instrumental family related social supports from coworkers were positive and significant on both ICBs (person and task focused). In comparison to instrumental support, the main effect of emotional support was more on person focused ICB. Whereas, in comparison to emotional support, the main effect of instrumental support was more on task focused ICB, as hypothesized. Work to family enrichment was found as mediator and family role salience as moderator in conditional indirect effect paths. This study establishes work family enrichment as a bridge in the social exchange process. The resources of emotional and instrumental family related support form coworkers’ engendered work to family enrichment, which in turn created the sense of obligation in the employees to reciprocate by performing person and task focused interpersonal citizenship behavior in the workplace. Further the employees high on family role salience experienced work to family enrichment more, due to support resources, and in turn reciprocated more interpersonal citizenship behaviors. Overall, this study contributed by examining a moderated mediation model, by testing work to family enrichment as mediator and family role salience as the boundary condition in relationship between two specific types of social support (i.e., emotional and instrumental) and two specific types of interpersonal citizenship behavior (i.e., person and task focused)