Exploring burnout and work-family facilitation as factors influencing why and when relational demography diminishes employee citizenship

Abstract

Considering the increasingly diversified workplace, surprisingly, little is known about the effects of supervisor-subordinate sex dissimilarity on job performance and how such effects might occur. Further, what organizations can do to minimize potentially negative consequences of sex dissimilarity on these processes and outcomes remains unclear. We integrated the relational demography framework and work-family enrichment theory to explicate an underlying mechanism and boundary condition of the supervisor-subordinate sex dissimilarity-interpersonal citizenship behaviour linkage (ICB). Results from 201 supervisor-subordinate dyads indicated that subordinates in diversified employment relationships perceive a lack of personal accomplishment, which corresponded with less ICB. However, these negative consequences of sex dissimilarity were attenuated when employees perceived greater work-family facilitation.