The working environment of middle managers and their subordinates' work-life balance: An empirical study of managerial attitudes toward subordinates' family and personal needs

To examine the factors promoting employees' work-life balance (WLB), I focus on the psychological process of their middle managers. Specifically, I classify middle managers' attitudes toward their subordinates' WLB into two types: support for 1) family needs and 2) personal needs, and formulate hypotheses based on the job demands-resources model. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from 1,483 Japanese full-time middle managers. Consistent with our prediction, we found that job autonomy influences middle managers' supportive attitudes toward their subordinates' personal needs. On the other hand, assistance from immediate supervisors improves the middle managers' supportive attitudes toward their subordinates' family needs. Moreover, the middle managers' anticipation of negative effects caused by employer-sponsored WLB programs was found to mediate the latter relationship.