The mixed blessing of coworker support: understanding family-work conflict, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction

Purpose Drawing from a resource-based perspective in the work–family interface literature, the current study examines how emotional exhaustion, as a resource depletion mechanism, mediates the relationship between family–work conflict and job satisfaction. The authors also considered the content and nature of coworker support to investigate whether there were differential moderating effects of the two distinct types of coworker support: emotional and instrumental support. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed 321 kindergarten employees across multiple sites located in South Korea. Using this sample, the authors performed random coefficient modeling to test the proposed research model. Findings The results showed a significant negative indirect relationship between family–work conflict and job satisfaction through emotional exhaustion. Furthermore, the findings suggested differential effects of the two coworker support types, such that the positive relationship between family–work conflict and emotional exhaustion was stronger when coworker emotional support was low than when it was high; the positive relationship was stronger when coworker instrumental support was high than when it was low. Moderated mediation analyses revealed that the two types of coworker support moderated the indirect relationship. Originality/value These results highlight the mixed blessing of distinct types of coworker support for researchers and practitioners. A lack of emotional support and greater instrumental support from coworkers each, respectively, exacerbate the negative impact of family–work conflict on employees' well-being and, subsequently, job satisfaction.