Unethical Behavior in the Name of the Family: Exploring the Consequences of Unethical Pro-Family Behavior on Employees’ Work and Life

The existing literature on unethical pro-family behavior has mainly focused on its precursors, the outcomes of unethical pro-family behavior remain largely unknown. Building on the role theory, the current study presents an integrative model examining the effects of unethical pro-family behavior on actors’ work and life. Across an experiment and a multi-source, multi-wave field study, we found that employees who engage in unethical pro-family behavior experience role conflict, which further triggers their work withdrawal behavior and family emotional exhaustion. Moreover, we identify work role expansion as an essential boundary condition of the effect of unethical pro-family behavior on employees’ work and life. Specifically, the positive correlation between unethical pro-family behavior and role conflict and the indirect impact of unethical pro-family behavior on work withdrawal behavior as well as family emotional exhaustion via role conflict were weaker when work role expansion was high. Overall, this study provides insights into the consequences, mechanism, and boundary condition pertinent to employees’ unethical pro-family behavior.