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Mediators of transformational leadership and the work-family relationship

Michelle Hammond (Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland)
Jeanette N. Cleveland (Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA)
John W. O'Neill (School of Hospitality Management, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA)
Robert S. Stawski (College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA)
April Jones Tate (Department for Human Capital, Food and Drug Administration Center for Veterinary Medicine, Rockville, Maryland, USA)

Journal of Managerial Psychology

ISSN: 0268-3946

Article publication date: 11 May 2015

2488

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which leaders influence follower’s work-life management. Specifically, the authors propose that personal (positive affect), social (managerial support for work-family balance), and job (autonomy) resources mediate the relationships between transformational leadership and work-family conflict (WFC) and enrichment.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample included 411 managers in 37 hotel properties across the USA.

Findings

The relationship between TL and WFC was mediated by autonomy, positive affect and managerial support for work-family balance, whereas the relationship between TL and WFE was mediated by managerial support for work-family balance and positive affect.

Research limitations/implications

This study constructs a foundation for future integration of leadership and work and family literatures. It also provides preliminary support for work-family enrichment theory (Greenhaus and Powell, 2006), as well as the value of examining leadership through a resource-based perspective.

Practical implications

Interventions designed to enhance leadership may be effective not only in the workplace, but also for reducing WFC and promoting enrichment.

Originality/value

This study is the first to directly examine the effect of transformational leadership and both WFC and enrichment. Further, it specifies mediating variables that underlie these relationships.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as part of the Work, Family and Health Network, which is funded by a cooperative agreement through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant No. U01HD051217, U01HD051218, U01HD051256, U01HD051276), National Institute on Aging (Grant No. U01AG027669), Office of Behavioral and Science Sciences Research, and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Grant No. U010H008788). We would like to thank the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2004-12-4) for providing support for this research. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of these institutes and offices. Special acknowledgement goes to Extramural Staff Science Collaborator, Rosalind Berkowitz King, PhD (NICHD) and Lynne Casper, PhD (University of Southern California) for design of the original Workplace, Family, Health and Well-Being Network Initiative. Persons interested in learning more about the Network should go to www.kpchr.org/workplacenetwork

Citation

Hammond, M., Cleveland, J.N., O'Neill, J.W., Stawski, R.S. and Jones Tate, A. (2015), "Mediators of transformational leadership and the work-family relationship", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 454-469. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-10-2011-0090

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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