1. Introduction
Under intense market competition pressure, organizations are increasingly extending employees’ working hours, requiring them to balance competing demands from multiple roles in both work and non-work domains [
1,
2]. As a result, work–family balance is facing significant challenges. The advent of the digital era has brought about significant changes in the way that employees work, with technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the Internet, and the Internet of Things altering traditional work practices. As a result, workplace constraints, including time and location, have become more flexible, blurring the boundaries between work and home. Additionally, the prevalence of dual-income households has made it increasingly common for employees to face the dual pressures of work and family [
3]. The conflict between employees’ work and family responsibilities has been intensifying, making it both a practical issue and a research focus in terms of whether organizations can provide resources or support to help employees balance their work and family relationships [
4].
Many studies have confirmed that the imbalance of employees’ work–family relationships will have a negative impact on employees [
5], including the endangerment of physical and mental health, a reduction in work well-being, and the generation of low performance levels [
6,
7]. Organizations have explored a variety of ways to reduce the potential negative impact of work–family conflict, such as supporting telecommuting, setting flexible working hours, setting up special maternity leave, etc. [
8,
9,
10]. However, it is difficult to fully meet the needs of employees only by giving employees specific benefits [
11]. In contrast, a supervisory role with direct discretion in the first-line area may be more critical. Studies have shown that the cognition and implementation of the relevant measures and systems of the organization’s family support for employees is the top priority to allow the system to play a key role [
12]. Based on this, scholars have proposed the concept of “family supportive supervisor behavior” in which supervisors provide support to employees to help employees balance work and family. Its specific connotation is “the behavior of supervisors to support employees to fulfill their family responsibilities, aiming to better help employees deal with the relationship between work and family” [
13]. With the gradual deepening of research, scholars have found the mechanism for the influence of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees, whereby supervisors show a series of behaviors that support employees’ families, which can not only help employees alleviate work–family conflicts but can also help employees to better carry out their work and improve their task performance [
14]. At present, scholars have conducted extensive discussions on the influence mechanism of family supportive supervisor behavior from different perspectives [
15], but there is still some research space. For example, in terms of influencing results, more attention is paid to the work–family interface, work attitude, and work performance [
1,
16,
17], and the related research is generally based on the resource perspective and the exchange perspective. So, can we explore its impact on employee behavior from different perspectives or specific situations? What are the key factors? What is the mechanism of action? These questions need to be explored further.
In related research on employee behavior, proactive behavior has been a wide concern of scholars [
18]. Proactive behavior is the proactive behavior of employees aimed at improving the work situation or individual roles, which is spontaneous, forward-looking, and transformative [
19]. In the context of increasingly fierce competition among organizations, the spontaneous behavior of employees at work is an important resource for organizations and a key factor for them to gain unique competitive advantages. Previous studies have confirmed that employee proactive behavior can improve job performance [
20], stimulate innovative behavior [
21], and promote organizational change [
19]. The academic community has carried out a lot of research on the antecedents of employees’ proactive behavior. At present, it mainly focuses on the individual level, job characteristics, and organizational context. Some scholars have confirmed that family supportive supervisor behavior in an organizational context has a positive impact on employees’ proactive behavior [
22]. However, there is a scarcity of existing research in this area, and scholars have primarily approached it from the perspective of social exchange theory. Furthermore, when explaining the underlying mechanisms between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior, researchers have typically focused on individual cognitive, emotional, or motivational variables as separate mediating factors [
23]. The exploration of a chain-mediated perspective is needed to enhance our understanding of this phenomenon. The Cognitive–Affective Personality System (CAPS) [
24] believes that the stimulation of the organizational context will not only directly affect individual behavior but will also affect individual potential behavior by activating individual cognitive and emotional factors in turn. The implementation of family-supportive behaviors by supervisors may potentially activate employees’ perceived insider status, leading to the generation of affective commitment and ultimately influencing employees’ proactive behavior. Especially in the cultural context of China, which emphasizes reciprocity, employees tend to feel a sense of indebtedness and gratitude when they perceive support and care from their supervisors on behalf of the organization. This, in turn, stimulates employees’ desire to reciprocate and proactively identify themselves as insiders of the organization. They develop emotional attachment and identification with the organization, leading to an increase in positive behaviors that are beneficial to the organization in their daily work. Therefore, this study further examines the mediating effect of the two variables in the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior by introducing two variables: perceived insider status and affective commitment.
This study is grounded in the Cognitive–Affective Personality System. By constructing a chain-mediated model, the study aims to delve into the direct effects of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior, as well as the internal pathways through which these effects are transmitted, involving the mediating factors of perceived insider status and affective commitment. Given the escalating work–family conflict among employees, the accelerated advent of the digital economy driving transformative shifts in work methodologies, and the increasingly complex and dynamic external milieu that triggers proactive behavior among employees, delving into the “black box” of the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employee proactivity has emerged as a salient concern within both the business community and academia. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the nexus between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior. This research contributes in three key ways. Firstly, it extends the investigation of the consequences of family supportive supervisor behavior in the domain of work. Prior studies have predominantly focused on the outcomes of family supportive supervisor behavior in relation to the work–family interface, work attitudes, and job performance [
1,
16,
17]. In the context of prolonged work hours, an increasing work intensity, the prevalence of dual-income households in China, and the growing complexity of organizational environments, this study explores the impact of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior within the workplace. This enriches the understanding of the mechanisms through which family supportive supervisor behavior operates in the realm of work. Secondly, while existing research largely stemmed from social exchange theory, this study employs the Cognitive–Affective Personality System to investigate the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior. This provides novel theoretical perspectives and entry points for management practices, thereby deepening the comprehension of the influence mechanisms of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior. Thirdly, this study focuses on an individual’s intrinsic perspective by integrating the perceived insider status (individual cognition) and affective commitment (individual emotions) into the theoretical framework, forming a chain-mediated model. This approach differentiates from prior research that often treats these two factors as independent systems. It thoroughly considers the combined role of cognition and emotions within the behavioral chain, thus offering a complementary perspective to existing research.
5. Discussion
Building upon the Cognitive–Affective Personality System Theory, this study employed the two-stage collection of 535 survey questionnaires from employees of various enterprises as the sample data. The study constructed a chain-mediated model “family supportive supervisor behavior → perceived insider status → affective commitment → employees’ proactive behavior” to systematically investigate the pivotal roles played by perceived insider status and affective commitment in mediating the impact of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior. Based on the results of our research analysis, the following discussion is conducted.
Firstly, this study validates the significant positive impact of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior. Prior research indicated that family supportive supervisor behavior is a crucial factor that influences employees’ proactive engagement [
31], and the findings of this study support this perspective. Specifically, family supportive supervisor behavior conveys to employees that supervisors are approachable and empathetic, reflecting a humanistic caring spirit [
71], thereby enhancing employees’ sense of meaningfulness in their organizational roles [
26]. When employees perceive a sense of purpose in their work within the organization, they tend to exhibit greater proactive behavior that enhances the long-term development of the organization [
27,
72]. Particularly in the cultural context of China, which values reciprocity [
33], employees might respond with gratitude to supervisors’ implementation of family-supportive behaviors. Consequently, they might proactively seek various ways and means to enhance organizational efficiency and quality as a form of reciprocation, thus demonstrating constructive and beneficial behaviors that enhance the organization’s continuous and healthy growth.
Secondly, the mediation role of internal organizational identification in the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employee proactive behavior is confirmed. Previous literature predominantly explained the mechanisms through which family supportive supervisor behavior influences employee-related positive behaviors by focusing on factors such as job autonomy [
31] and work–family balance [
38], overlooking the underlying intrinsic motivations. This study, anchored in the fulfillment of employees’ deeper-level needs, contends that family supportive supervisor behavior provides employees with a sense of familial care within the organization, satisfying their need for self-value recognition. This, in turn, fosters higher levels of internal organizational identification. Subsequently, internal organizational identification fulfills employees’ need for presence and belonging in the organization, motivating them to establish interdependence with the organization and demonstrate proactive behavior to enhance the organization’s long-term interests.
Thirdly, the partial mediating role of affective commitment in the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior is confirmed. This study explores the mediation mechanism from an affective perspective, supporting the notion that affective commitment is a crucial variable through which leadership influences employee processes [
23]. The Cognitive–Affective Personality System theory posits that situational information shapes an individual’s emotional state and subsequently determines their behavioral responses [
24]. As a significant component of the work environment, family-supportive supervisors emphasize the provision of care and understanding for employees’ work and family matters, conveying a friendly contextual message. Positive interactions between employees and family-supportive supervisors fulfill employees’ emotional needs, leading to positive emotional experiences. This, in turn, fosters strong emotional attachment to the organization, enhancing affective commitment and thereby manifesting greater dedication. Consequently, employees engage in more organizational citizenship behaviors.
Fourthly, this study confirms the chain-mediated effect of internal identity cognition and affective commitment in the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employee proactive behavior. Previous researchers have predominantly focused on individual mediating factors such as cognitive or affective factors in the context of the impact of family supportive supervisor behavior [
73]. In contrast, this study takes an integrated perspective that combines cognition and emotion. By adopting the “context–cognition–emotion–behavior” framework, it substantiates the existence of a chain-mediated mechanism between family supportive supervisor behavior and employee proactive behavior. This exploratory research responds to the call by Li et al. [
1] to analyze the mechanisms of family supportive supervisor behavior from multiple theoretical perspectives, thus enriching the field. Family supportive supervisor behavior, as a crucial organizational contextual factor, aids in satisfying employees’ work–family needs by providing cross-domain resources. This contributes to the strengthening of employees’ positive perceptions of supervisors and the organization, thus fostering elevated levels of internal identity cognition. Employees with heightened internal identity cognition are more likely to resonate with the organization on a psychological level, intensifying their emotional connection to the organization and fostering positive emotional experiences. This, in turn, enhances their affective commitment to the organization [
55,
60], leading employees to exhibit more proactive behaviors in support of the organization’s long-term development.
5.1. Theoretical Significance
(1) This study enriches the research on the mechanism of family supportive supervisor behavior. As an informal form of organizational support, there are not many research results on family supportive supervisor behavior, but it has gradually attracted the attention of scholars in recent years. In the existing research, scholars have mainly explored the influence of family supportive supervisor behavior on the work–family interface, work attitude and work performance, and its internal mechanism [
1,
16,
17]. This study examined the influence of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive workplace behavior. It demonstrates that, in the context of China, which is characterized by significant collectivist features, the boundaries between work and family are more blurred, and employees perceive and respond to the family supportive supervisor behavior of their supervisors. This perception significantly increases their likelihood of engaging in behaviors that benefit the organization. These findings provide theoretical support for organizations to cultivate family supportive supervisor behaviors and encourage employees to demonstrate proactive behaviors. Furthermore, they contribute to the expansion of research on the consequences of family supportive supervisor behavior in the workplace.
(2) This study broadens the applicability of Cognitive–Affective Personality System theory. Based on the Cognitive–Emotional Personality System theory, this study explored how family supportive supervisor behavior affects employees’ proactive behavior from the perspective of individual cognitive–emotional internal integration. In the existing research on the influence mechanism of family-supported supervisor behavior, scholars mainly used social exchange theory and resource conservation theory [
15] and rarely explored from the perspective of Cognitive–Emotional Personality System theory. This study provides a new theoretical perspective and entry point for related research.
(3) This study confirmed the independent mediating effects and serial mediating effects of perceived insider identity and affective commitment. The present study developed an integrated model that includes family supportive supervisor behavior, perceived insider identity, affective commitment, and employees’ proactive behavior. The study confirmed that family supportive supervisor behavior first influences perceived insider status, which subsequently influences affective commitment, ultimately impacting employees’ proactive behavior. In the existing research on the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior, cognition, emotion, and motivation are usually discussed separately as mediating variables [
22].The research mechanism of serial mediation needs further enrichment, and this study acts as a supplement to uncover the “black box” mechanism underlying the relationship between family supportive supervisor behavior and employees’ proactive behavior.
5.2. Practical Implications
The escalating intensity of work and the need for employees to reconcile competing demands from work and non-work domains have become prominent challenges in contemporary organizations. Simultaneously, the emergence of the digital era, characterized by advancements in technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, the Internet, and the Internet of Things, has revolutionized employees’ work arrangements, dismantling the constraints of traditional workplace settings and temporal boundaries. Furthermore, the prevalence of dual-earner families has established itself as the prevailing family structure in present-day society, intensifying the inherent conflict between work and family obligations for employees. Consequently, supporting employees to effectively balance their work and family responsibilities is of paramount significance for ensuring the sustained and thriving growth of organizations. According to the conclusions of this paper, the following suggestions are put forward:
(1) Organizations should pay attention to the application and cultivation of family supportive supervisor behavior in organizational management. First of all, the organization should establish a family-supportive organizational culture and actively intervene to enhance family supportive supervisor behavior, for instance, by providing formal family support systems including employee assistance programs, childcare services, paid leave, and remote work options. Secondly, organizations should strengthen the cultivation of managers’ family supportive supervisor behavior, which can be carried out in the form of special lectures. Finally, the organization should focus on supervisors’ behavior to supporting employees’ families in the assessment system and give appropriate recognition to supervisors who demonstrate personnel adjustment, salary increase, and promotions.
(2) Organizations should strengthen employees’ cognition of their insider status. In the Chinese context, when employees perceive that they belong to the organization and are “insiders” of the organization, they will be loyal to the organization and will be willing to devote their time and energy to the organization and actively realize their self-worth. Therefore, the organization should pay attention to the employees’ pay, care for the welfare of employees, respect the differences among employees, share more key information with employees, encourage employees to have a voice, and allow employees to put forward unique and personalized ideas. At the same time, the organization can incorporate ways to improve employees’ insider identity into the leadership training and assessment system, encourage supervisors to build a good relationship between employees and leaders, enhance employees’ sense of ownership, and thus enhance employees’ initiative in the workplace.
(3) Organizations should establish an emotional connection between employees and the organization. First of all, the organization should recruit employees with a sense of “belonging” and “loyalty” to the organization, which is conducive to the establishment of closer emotional ties between employees and the organization so as to continuously improve the level of affective commitment of employees in the organization. Secondly, supervisors should provide employees with emotional support resources, strengthen humanistic care, give employees sufficient psychological compensation, and promote positive spillover effects. For example, we can understand the current situation of employees’ affective commitment through discussion, questionnaire surveys, and so on and guide them correctly according to the reflected situation so as to stimulate employees to undertake more constructive behaviors and make greater contributions to organizational development.
5.3. Research Limitations and Future Prospects
First, the data for all variables in this study were collected through self-report measures, which inevitably exposed the respondents to a social desirability bias, thereby introducing a certain degree of common method bias. Although this study employed both the Harman single-factor test and the unmeasured latent factor approach to demonstrate the absence of a severe common method bias, future research can further mitigate this issue by employing data collection methods that involve supervisor–employee pairing, thus enhancing the objectivity of the survey data.
Second, in terms of the research content, in this study, family supportive supervisor behavior is discussed as a single overall dimension, but whether there are significant differences in the impacts of different dimensions of family supportive supervisor behavior on employees’ proactive behavior remains to be further studied. Therefore, in the future, we can deeply explore the influences of the four dimensions of family supportive supervisor behavior on the perceived insider status, affective commitment, and employees’ proactive behavior so as to further understand the specific mechanisms associated with family supportive supervisor behavior.
Third, in terms of the situation selection, this study is based on the Chinese context, which will have a certain impact on the cross-cultural applicability of the conclusions of this study. Especially in different cultural backgrounds (such as individualism and collectivism), employees may have different understandings of family supportive supervisor behavior, perceived insider status, affective commitment, and proactive behavior. Therefore, future research can consider the use of a cross-cultural research design to further test the reliability and universality of the conclusions of this study with employees from different cultures and organizational situations as samples.