The intersection of parental support and abusive supervision: A multi-wave design

Abstract

Cultivating high-quality internship is essential for both interns and organizations. Yet there is little understanding of how parental support impacts outcomes of internship. This research drew on career construction theory to test a conceptual model suggesting that parental support improves an intern's person–organization fit and the internship quality. We tested our hypotheses using a longitudinal design with Generation Z interns in the hospitality industry, across five time points. We further assessed a serial moderated mediation model which predicts that parental support will mitigate the negative effect of abusive supervision. Results first warrant serial mediating effects between parental support and internship satisfaction/industry commitment through person–organization fit and internship quality. More importantly, we also unravel a cross-domain buffering effect operating in such a way that abusive supervision could erode supportive efforts emanating from family members and could undermine the relationship between parental support and person–organization fit. Receiving a high level of parental support from one domain would buffer the negative impact of abusive supervision from another domain.