How support from the supervisor’s spouse and co-workers averts the employee’s deviant work behavior?

Building on the work-home resources model (W-HR), this study explores the nomological network of family supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB). We propose that spousal support experienced by the supervisor is likely to be positively associated with FSSB which, in turn, are likely to reduce employee’s deviant work behaviors. We expand our model furthermore by integrating and exploring the role of perceived co-worker support as a contextual condition on our associations, impacting on how FSSB are experienced and translate into work outcomes. The multilevel path analyses on weekly dairy data of matched supervisor-employee dyads supported our hypotheses. Our study contributes to FSSB literature by (1) empirically supporting new paths of support contagion (i.e., supervisor’s spousal support and employee’s perceived co-worker support) as antecedents of FSSB, (2) revealing the possibility of FSSB to withhold employees from deviant work behavior, (3) underscoring the role of co-workers as “enablers” of FSSB and finally (4) demonstrating the importance to use diary designs to examine FSSB. From a practical point of view, the findings encourage supervisors as well as HR units to develop and deploy weekly interventions on FSSB, social support (spouse and co-worker) as well as work outcomes.