You are a helpful co-worker, but do you support your spouse? A resource-based work-family model of helping and support provision

• Published in: Organizational behavior and human decision processes Vol. 138; pp. 45 - 58
• Main Authors: Lin, Katrina Jia, Ilies, Remus, Pluut, Helen, Pan, Su-Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-01-2017
• Subjects: Behavioral spillover; Helping at work; Prosocial motivation; Resource depletion; Resource generation; Spousal support provision; Work-home resources model; Resource generation; Spousal support provision; Behavioral spillover; Helping at work; Work-home resources model; Resource depletion; Prosocial motivation
• ISSN: 0749-5978; 1095-9920
• DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.12.004

•We examined the behavioral spillover effect of help and support provision.•Positive affect and time are two volatile resources linking work and family.•We found a resource generation mechanism and a resource depletion mechanism.•Prosocial motivation moderated the resource-generating effect of helping at work.
Drawing from the literature on behavioral spillover effects, the work-home resources model and research on helping at work, we investigate how help provision at work spills over to influence the provision of spousal support at home by examining a resource generation mechanism and a resource depletion mechanism. Across two experience-sampling studies, we collected data from employees and their spouses multiple times per day in different domains for ten workdays. Results from our two-study examination supported both the resource generation mechanism and the resource depletion mechanism. On days when employees helped colleagues more, they reported higher positive affect, which led to higher support provision to their spouses; meanwhile, higher levels of helping translated in less time for the family, which led to lower support provided to spouses. In Study 2, we tested and found that prosocial motivation enhanced the resource-generating effect of help provision. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.