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It takes a village: How organizational support for adoption positively affects employees and their families
Author(s) -
Quade Matthew J.,
Hackney Kaylee J.,
Carlson Dawn S.,
Hanlon Ryan P.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of occupational and organizational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 2044-8325
pISSN - 0963-1798
DOI - 10.1111/joop.12358
Subject(s) - spouse , psychology , perceived organizational support , resource dependence theory , social psychology , conservation of resources theory , organizational commitment , spillover effect , social support , structural equation modeling , construct (python library) , resource (disambiguation) , management , microeconomics , economics , sociology , statistics , mathematics , anthropology , computer science , programming language , computer network
Extending the integration of conservation of resources theory with the spillover–crossover model, we broaden the scope of types of organizational support by examining the influence of organizational support for adoption (OSFA) as a work resource that could benefit employees, their spouse, and their adopted child. Specifically, we examine how this resource of OSFA contributes to job incumbent work–family enrichment (WFE) and indirectly to a work outcome (i.e., affective commitment) and spills over to impact family outcomes (i.e., attachment, relationship tension, and family functioning). Further, we examine the crossover to the spouse through positive crossover transmission to his/her commitment to the job incumbent’s organization and his/her family outcomes. Using a matched sample of 592 couples that had adopted a child, we found that the resource of OSFA indirectly influences the job incumbent’s work and family outcomes as expected. Further, we found OSFA indirectly influences the spouse’s commitment to the job incumbent’s organization and the spouse’s family outcomes through WFE and positive crossover transmission. Evidence of the content and construct validity of OSFA is also presented. Implications, both theoretical and practical, and suggestions for future research are discussed. Practitioner points Employees who feel supported in their adoption by their organization are more committed to their organization. Organizations that provide support for adoptive employees indirectly influence their spouses’ commitment to the employees’ organization. Adoptive employees’ positive work experiences that result from organizational support for adoption spillover into their family domain. Children who are adopted can benefit indirectly from their parents’ employing organization when that organization supports the adoption in tangible ways.