How Family Support Influences Work Cynicism and Employee Silence: The Moderating Role of Gender

Abstract

In organizational silence research, the antecedents and mechanisms of employee silence in the employees’ nonwork context have attracted growing interest. This study considers how family support influences employee silence and its boundary effect. By drawing on spillover theory, we propose and examine a moderated mediation model that explores the mediating role of work cynicism and the moderating role of gender. Based on a three-wave sampling design from 332 hotel employees and their supervisors, the results of multigroup-Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis supported our model and suggested that family support impacted employee silence by decreasing work cynicism; furthermore, both this mediation effect and the relationship between work cynicism and employee silence were moderated by gender in the hospitality industry. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.