The Mechanism of Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviour on Employees' Work–Family Enrichment and Conflict: A Flexibility Resource Perspective

Existing research consistently highlights the critical role of family supportive supervisor behaviour (FSSB) in enhancing employees' family-to-work enrichment and mitigating work-to-family conflict. Traditionally, its mechanisms of influence have been explained through the transfer of affective and cognitive resources. This study extends prior work by exploring the pathways through which FSSB affects work-family enrichment and conflict, drawing on the flexibility resource perspective and integrating insights from work-family enrichment theory. Based on a survey of Chinese employees, our findings reveal that FSSB enhances work-family enrichment by increasing employees' family time adequacy and facilitating family-to-work resource spillover. Similarly, FSSB reduces work-to-family conflict through improvements in family time adequacy and family-to-work resource spillover. Furthermore, gender serves as a boundary condition influencing family-to-work resource spillover, with females demonstrating a greater capacity to leverage resource spillover. This research offers practical insights for organisations and supervisors seeking to utilise flexibility resources to promote employees' work-family balance effectively.