RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MORAL LEADERSHIP AND WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT

THE MODERATING ROLE OF LOYALTY TO SUPERVISOR

Abstract

This current study examined the moderating role of loyalty to supervisor in the relationship between moral leadership and work family conflict among subordinates. A total of 37 subordinates in organizations/company located in Onitsha, Awka, Warri of Anambra and Delta state were sampled using the purposive sampling technique and selected with the aid of the supervisors. The gender distribution of the subordinates is 14 male (38.9%) and 22 females (61.1%). Age of the subordinates ranged from 20 to 40 years old with the mean of 28.57 and standard deviation of 4.49. Instruments used for measuring the variables include the moral leadership scale (Cheng et al., 2004), work-family conflict scale (Carlson et al., 2000), and loyalty to supervisor scale (Chen et al., 2003). The current study adopted a cross sectional survey and correlational design. Findings revealed that moral leadership has a significant negative relationship with work-family conflict (r= -.401, r= p <.05) and a significant positive relationship with loyalty to supervisor (r= .541, p <.01). However, loyalty to supervisor did not show a significant relationship with work-family conflict (r= -.026, p >.01). Moderation analysis indicated that loyalty to supervisor moderated the relationship between moral leadership and work-family conflict (b = -.0711, 95% CI [-.1272, -.0150], t = -2.58, p < .05). Based on these findings, the study recommends that the management need to first develop work conditions that should earn subordinates’ trust, respect, and compliance. Under these conditions alone, can work-family conflict might be managed effectively with the aid of highly moral leaders, superiors or supervisors in the work place.