Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

www.elsevier.com/locate/jvb

Work-life benets and job pursuit intentions:

The role of anticipated organizational support
Wendy J. Caspera,* and Louis C. Buardib
a

Department of Psychology, University of Tulsa, 600 South College Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74104, USA
b
George Mason University, USA
Received 3 February 2003
Available online 29 November 2003

Abstract
The current study examined the impact of two work-life benets, work schedule exibility,
and dependent care assistance, on applicants intentions to pursue jobs with potential employers. The study also explored whether anticipated organizational support would mediate the relationships between these two work-life benets and job pursuit intentions. Results indicated
that although work schedule exibility, dependent care assistance, and salary were all related
to job pursuit intentions, only schedule exibility, and dependent care were related to anticipated organizational support. Findings also indicated that anticipated organizational support
fully mediated the eects of work schedule exibility and dependent care assistance on job pursuit intentions. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of organizational support as
a mediating mechanism through which work-life benets inuence more distal outcomes, and
in terms of implications for organizational recruiting strategies.
2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Workfamily conict; Work-life benets; Recruitment; Job choice; Organizational attractiveness; Organizational support; Familyfriendly culture

1. Introduction
During the past few decades, as the number of dual career families has increased,
considerable research has examined work and family issues. Employers today
*
Corresponding author. Fax: 1-918-631-2833.
E-mail address: wendy-casper@utulsa.edu (W.J. Casper).

0001-8791/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2003.09.003

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frequently implement benets to help employees balance work and family, often with
the goal of enhancing recruitment (Basch Scott, 1996). Practitioner literature has
sometimes made unsubstantiated claims about how these benets inuence the organization. For example, Roberts (1996) reported that work-life programs enhance
morale, attendance, productivity, and recruitment, although no data were provided
to support these claims. In spite of recent calls to measure the impact of work-life
programs on organizational behaviors (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998; Landauer, 1997; Vincola, 1998), this area remains under-researched. In addition, although some studies
have linked work-life benets to increased satisfaction (Thomas & Ganster, 1995),
higher organizational commitment (Kossek & Nichol, 1992), reduced turnover intentions (Grover & Crocker, 1995), and enhanced productivity (Galinsky & Stein,
1990), few have examined work-life benets and recruitment. Recruitment involves
organizational practices that inuence the number and types of individuals who
are willing to apply for job vacancies (Rynes, 1991). This study explores how
work-life benets inuence prospective employees to apply for vacancies.
1.1. Work-life benets and recruitment
Rynes (1991) discussed the need to identify recruitment strategies to deal with labor shortages and argued for benets such as on-site child care and extime as potential strategies. To date, only a few empirical studies (Bretz & Judge, 1994;
Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997; Rau & Hyland, 2002; Rothausen, Gonzalez, Clarke, &
ODell, 1998) have examined work-life benets and an organizations recruitment
strategy. Moreover, these studies reveal competing ndings concerning the extent
to which work-life benets are universally appealing (Bretz & Judge, 1994; Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997) or appeal only to workers who are most likely to benet from
them (Rau & Hyland, 2002; Rothausen et al., 1998).
Honeycutt and Rosen (1997) explored the eects of familyfriendly career paths
among a sample of MBAs, hypothesizing that those with salient family and balance
identities would be more attracted to companies oering exible career paths. Instead, they found that all participants were more attracted to organizations with exible career paths, supporting the universal appeal of work-life benets.
In contrast, Rau and Hyland (2002) explored telecommuting and extime, and
found that work-to-family conict moderated the eects of both extime and telecommuting on organizational attraction. Specically, individuals with high workto-family conict were more attracted to organizations oering extime, whereas
those with low work-to-family conict were more attracted to organizations with
telecommuting. Thus, Rau and Hylands (2002) ndings suggest that individual differences aect the appeal of these policies.
Another work-life benet that was not explored in either of these studies (Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997; Rau & Hyland, 2002) is dependent care assistance. With an estimated 8000 worksite child care centers in the United States in 1998 (Work &
Family Connection, 1998) dependent care assistance is on the rise in todays organizations. Although some studies have found that dependent care assistance enhances
employee attitudes (Kossek & Nichol, 1992), few have examined whether dependent

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393

care aects recruitment outcomes. One study that did (Rothausen et al., 1998) found
that employees with current or future needs for child care believed that on-site child
care would facilitate recruiting more so than those without child care needs, suggesting that work-life benets may primarily appeal to potential users.
Finally, Bretz and Judge (1994) explored attraction to organizations oering
general work-family policies within a study examining attraction to several human
resource systems. Although ndings in general suggested that the appeal of human
resources systems is based on individual dierences, this was not supported for
workfamily policies. Counter to expectations, they found that individuals with high
workfamily conict did not nd workfamily policies more appealing.
Although not examining recruitment per se, Grover and Crocker (1995) found
that four distinct work-life policies (i.e., parental leave, child care information and
referral, extime, nancial assistance with child care) predicted organizational attachment (i.e., aective commitment, turnover intentions). Interestingly, these policies were related to greater attachment among all employees who worked for the
rm oering them, not just users, supporting the universal appeal of work-life benets. The authors suggested that work-life benets are universally appealing because
they symbolize a concern for employees and their families, thereby creating a sense
that the organization is supportive of employee needs.
Clearly, the literature lacks consensus with respect to which, if any, individual differences moderate the eect of work-life policies on recruitment outcomes, and more
research is needed to resolve conicting ndings. In addition, although Rau and Hyland (2002) examined exible work options and Rothausen et al. (1998) investigated
on-site child care, no single study has explored both exible work options and dependent care to determine whether they make unique contributions or interact in predicting job pursuit intentions. This is important because the addition of a new
work-life benet in an organization with a pre-existing work-life program may have
a dierent impact than implementing an organizations rst work-life benet. It may
be the case that implementing a rst work-life program makes an organization appear more desirable and supportive, but that additional programs do not further enhance this perception. Research is also needed to resolve discrepant ndings with
respect to whether individual dierences aect the attractiveness of work-life benets. This is important because if benets only appeal to certain individuals, they will
enhance recruitment only if such individuals comprise the applicant pool. Finally, no
research has examined the psychological mechanisms through which work-life benets exert their eects on recruitment outcomes. Given that workfamily research
has been criticized for lacking theory and ignoring mediating mechanisms (Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bourdeaux, & Brinley, invited monograph), this type of work is
clearly warranted.
This study extends past research in several ways. First, we explore the unique and
multiplicative eects of exible work schedules and dependent care assistance. Second, we explore anticipated organizational support as a mechanism through which
job pursuit intentions may develop. Finally, we examine workfamily conict
and parental status as moderators to assess whether work-life policies are universally
appealing or only to appeal those most apt to benet from them.

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1.2. Anticipated organizational support

Research suggests that the presence of work-life benets is distinct from support for work-life issues. Studies have found that work-life policies do not always
reduce workfamily conict (Galinsky & Morris, 1991), and that on-site child care
is not associated with lower workfamily conict, whereas supervisor support is
(Go, Mount, & Jamison, 1990). Other research has found that supervisor and coworker support are more related to employee role strain than work-life benets
(Greenberger, Goldberg, Hamill, ONeil, & Payne, 1989). These ndings highlight
the importance of considering organizational support when studying work-life
benets.
Some authors have incorporated the notion of support by discussing an organizations workfamily culture. Friedman and Galinsky (1992) suggested that work-life
programs may not be eective if concern for work-life issues is not part of the organizational culture. In addition, Thompson, Beauvais, and Lyness (1999) found that
workfamily culture predicted additional variance in work attitudes above the eects
of workfamily benets. Although job applicants do not experience an actual organizational culture, information received during recruitment may inuence their perceptions of what the culture would be like. For instance, information about an
organizations work-life benets might foster expectations that the organization
would be supportive of employees personal needs. Similarly, Grover and Crocker
(1995) argued that work-life benets inuence organizational attachment for all employees because they symbolize an organizations concern for employee welfare. In
support of this, research has found that family-oriented actions are positively related
to perceived organizational support (Guzzo, Noonan, & Elron, 1994). Taken together, past ndings suggest that work-life benets may foster a perception that
an organization is supportive of employee needs.
Perceived organizational support is dened as a global impression employees
hold that an organization values them and cares about their well-being (Eisenberger, Fasolo, & Davis LaMastro, 1990), and is postulated to create social exchange
such that perceived support from the organization enhances organizational attachment. Notably, perceived organizational support is conceptually similar to the
concern for employees discussed by Grover and Crocker (1995). Thus, our study
tests Grover and Crockers (1995) contention that work-life policies symbolize an
organizations concern for employees. Because we examined job hunters perceptions during recruitment, we adapted the notion of perceived organizational support to reect anticipated organizational support, a perception of how much
applicants expected they would be valued and cared about by the organization
if they became employees. We expected job hunters to anticipate that organizations oering work-life benets would be more supportive of them than those that
did not.
H1: It was hypothesized that the availability of dependent care assistance would
be positively related to anticipated organizational support.
H2: It was hypothesized that the availability of work schedule exibility would be
positively related to anticipated organizational support.

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395

To date, no research we are aware of has explored why work-life benets might
attract applicants with low workfamily conict (Bretz & Judge, 1994) and enhance
commitment of employees without families (Grover & Crocker, 1995). We believe
that perceptions of organizational support might explain these ndings if work-life
benets exert their inuence indirectly, through anticipated organizational support
as a mediator. Past research has found perceived organizational support enhances
attachment in the form of organizational commitment (Settoon, Bennett, & Liden,
1996), attendance (Eisenberger et al., 1990), and work performance (Eisenberger et
al., 1990). It follows that applicants beliefs that an organization would be supportive
may facilitate attraction to that organization. Further, Allen (2001) found that the
impact of familyfriendly benets on workfamily conict, aective commitment,
and job satisfaction was mediated by family supportive organizational perceptions.
Thus, we proposed that information about work-life benets, presented during recruitment, would facilitate anticipated organizational support. Support perceptions,
in turn, were expected to inuence intentions to pursue employment with that organization. Based on this notion and research nding that work-life benets have universal appeal (Grover & Crocker, 1995; Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997), we expected that
both work schedule exibility and dependent care would positively relate to job pursuit intentions and that this eect would be mediated through anticipated organizational support.
H3: It was hypothesized that the availability of dependent care assistance would
be positively related to job pursuit intentions.
H4: It was hypothesized that the availability of work schedule exibility would be
positively related to job pursuit intentions.
H5: It was hypothesized that the eect of dependent care assistance on job pursuit
intentions would be mediated by anticipated organizational support.
H6: It was hypothesized that the eect of work schedule exibility on job pursuit
intentions would be mediated by anticipated organizational support.
1.3. Eects of salary
Honeycutt and Rosen (1997) found that salary did not enhance organizational attraction, and suggested that salary may not inuence attraction above an adequate
pay threshold. However, research also suggests that salary inuences behaviors
more than attitudes (Aiman-Smith, Bauer, & Cable, 2001). We examined salary in
conjunction with work-life benets because: (1) benets are a form of non-cash compensation, so that moderate salary might oset high benet levels or vice versa and
(2) research has found that salary inuences job choice (Saks, Wiesner, & Summers,
1996). Because Aiman-Smith et al. (2001) found that salary predicted behaviors better than attitudes we expected that salary would positively relate to job pursuit intentions and would relate more strongly to job pursuit intentions than to anticipated
organizational support.
H7: It was hypothesized that salary would be: (a) positively related to job pursuit
intentions and (b) more strongly related to job pursuit intentions than anticipated
organizational support.

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1.4. Moderators: Workfamily conict and parental status

To explore whether work-life benets appeal to all individuals or only those with
particular needs, we examined moderators of the relationships between work-life benets and outcomes. Because of conicting ndings from past research, all moderators
were examined as exploratory research questions rather than a priori hypotheses. We
rst explored whether work-to-family or family-to-work conict moderated the effects of work schedule exibility on outcomes. Rau and Hyland (2002) found that
those with high work-to-family conict were more attracted to extime but that those
with low work-to-family conict were more attracted to telecommuting. In contrast,
Bretz and Judge (1994) found workfamily conict did not inuence attraction to organizations with workfamily policies. Thus, we explored whether workfamily conict moderated the eects of general work schedule exibility on outcomes.
Research question 1: Does workfamily conict moderate the relationship between
work schedule exibility and (a) anticipated organizational support; (b) job pursuit intentions?
The literature was also unclear regarding whether individual dierences would inuence attraction to dependent care. Grover and Crocker (1995) found that child
care information enhanced attachment for both parents and non-parents, whereas
Rothausen et al. (1998) found that only employees who might use on-site child care
found it appealing. Workfamily conict and parental status were both explored as
moderators of the relationships between dependent care assistance and (1) anticipated organizational support and (2) job pursuit intentions.
Research question 2: Does workfamily conict moderate the relationship between
dependent care and (a) anticipated organizational support; (b) job pursuit intentions?
Research question 3: Does parental status moderate the relationship between dependent care and (a) anticipated organizational support; (b) job pursuit intentions?
The hypotheses and research questions were examined with data collected from
job hunters and newly hired employees.

2. Method
2.1. Research design
This study used a 2
2
2 experimental design that manipulated work schedule exibility, dependent care assistance, and salary. With two levels of each variable, the design
yielded eight vignettes describing dierent organizations. Each participant read one vignette and responded to items assessing perceptions of the organization portrayed.
2.2. Data collection procedures
To maximize task salience, participants were required (1) to be seeking employment currently, (2) to have engaged in a job search in the past 3 months, or (3) to

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397

have begun a new job in the past 3 months. Participants were recruited through
employing organizations, job search sources, and networking. Participants received
a cover letter attached to the survey which indicated that the purpose of the study
was to examine what kinds of organizations people were most interested in working
for. A total of 945 surveys were distributed through organizations including 2 hospitals, 3 consulting rms, a manufacturing rm, 2 high tech rms, 2 universities, 2
government agencies, 2 employment agencies, and a bank. Another 379 surveys were
distributed through job search sources (i.e., job fairs, internet job postings, and
placement services), and 82 surveys were distributed through networking. In total,
1406 surveys were distributed and 371 usable surveys were returned for a response
rate of 26%. Of these, 135 surveys came through a company, 201 through a job
search source, and 34 through networking. The source of data collection was not recorded for 1 survey. Analyses revealed that participants who were recruited through
dierent sources did not respond dierently to the survey questions.
2.3. Participants
Of the 371 respondents, 58.2% were female, and the average age was 34.7 years.
Most were educated with 25.6% having a college degree and 54.8% a graduate degree.
Regarding marital status, 33.2% were single, 51.5% were married, and 7.5% lived with
a partner. Most respondents (61.7%) had no children, 11.6% had 1 child, 16.7% had 2
children, and 9.1% had 3 or more children. Of those without children, 70% planned to
have children within 10 years. On average, respondents had 11.8 years of work experience, worked 41.35 h per week, and spent 22.61 h per week in family activities. Most
(78.4%) were Caucasian, 8.4% were African American, 5.1% were Asian, 5.1% were
Hispanic, and 2.4% were other races. The modal family income (41%) was $65,000
per year or more. Participant job search status was as follows: 47.5% job hunting,
42.2% in new jobs, 8.9% neither in new jobs or job hunting, and 1.1% in new jobs
and job hunting. Participant responses on the survey did not dier based on the participants job search status (i.e., whether they were job hunting or newly employed).
Participants benet history was measured by providing a list of 21 work-life benets and asking participants if they had ever worked for a company with this benet.
The percentage of participants exposed to each benet at a current or previous employer was as follows: 17% on-site child care, 11.1% sick child care, 25% dependent
care referral program, 13.2% dependent care subsidies, 50.7% extended parental
leave (beyond what is required by the Family Medical Leave Act), 83.6% part time
work schedules, 36.7% job sharing, 42.6% telecommuting, 46.6% compressed work
weeks, and 52.6% extime.
2.4. The questionnaire
A cover letter provided study information. The rst section of the survey described the organization in which work schedule exibility, dependent care assistance, and salary were manipulated. After reading this description, participants
responded to: (1) items assessing their perceptions of the organization, (2) individual

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W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

dierence measures, and (3) benet history and demographic questions. Most participants returned the survey via a pre-addressed, postage-paid envelope, though some
returned it via fax or email.
2.4.1. Manipulated independent variables
Each independent variable was operationalized by the manipulations described
below. The rst author developed the manipulations based on the practical literature
on familyfriendly organizations (Fortune, 2003; Working Mother Magazine, 2002)
and benets information from employers who had not been identied as family
friendly. Content validity was assessed by three experts (professors familiar with
the content domain) who reviewed stimulus materials and recommended revisions.
Manipulations were revised, again compared against the benets oered in familyfriendly and typical companies, and consensus was reached that the vignettes operationalized each independent variable.
Work schedule exibility was operationalized as follows. The standard work schedule manipulation stated This organization requires employees to work full time
hours and a standard work schedule set by the organization. The exible work
schedule manipulation stated This organization oers extime for any employees
who want it as long as they meet job requirements, and employs both full and part
time employees. Part time employees are eligible for employee benets on a prorated basis.
Dependent care assistance benets was operationalized as follows. The standard
benets manipulation stated This organization oers a traditional benets package
including health insurance, a 401k program, vacation and sick time. The enhanced
dependent care benets manipulation stated In addition to a traditional benets
package (health insurance, a 401k program, vacation, and sick time), this organization has an on-site child care center, a dependent care referral service to assist employees with dependent care needs, and an employee assistance program to assist
employees with personal and work concerns.
Salary level. Given the diversity of participant occupations and their dierent salary expectations, we did not provide a specic dollar amount for salary. We adopted
an approach similar to Honeycutt and Rosen (1997) providing a general statement
that the salary was either around or higher than the market average. The average salary manipulation stated Salaries for this position in this company are about average
compared to similar jobs in the same location and industry. The high salary manipulation stated Salaries for this position in this company are about 15% higher than
the average of salaries of similar jobs in the same location and industry.
2.4.2. Measures
The mediator, moderator, and dependent variables were measured by the scales
described in the section which follows. Unless otherwise noted, responses were provided on a ve point Likert scale from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1).
Anticipated organizational support. An 8-item perceived organizational support
scale (Eisenberger, Cummings, Armeli, & Lynch, 1997) was adapted for this study.
The original scale was developed to measure employee perceptions of how much

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399

support there is in an organization. We were interested in applicants perceptions of

what the organization would be like as an employer, so items were adapted accordingly. For instance, the item My organization cares about my opinions was
adapted to This organization would care about my opinions.
Job pursuit intention. Job pursuit intention was measured with ve items from
Aiman-Smith et al. (2001). A sample item is I would accept a job oer from this
company.
Workfamily conict. Work-to-family and family-to-work conict were each assessed with ve items from Netemeyer, Boles, and McMurrian (1996). Sample items
include The demands of my work interfere with my home and family life for workto-family conict and I have to put o doing things at work because of demands on
my time at home for family-to-work conict.
Parental status. Parents were asked to report the age of their youngest child and
non-parents if they expected to have children within 10 years. Six parental status categories were created: (1) non-parents who were not planning to have children within
10 years, (2) non-parents who were planning to have children within 10 years, (3)
parents with a youngest child under the age of 6, (4) parents with a youngest child
age 612, (5) parents with a youngest child age 1317, and (6) parents whose youngest child was age 18 or older. Five dummy codes represented parental status with
non-parents not intending to have children as the control group.
2.5. Measurement model
Given the high correlation between anticipated organizational support and job
pursuit intentions (r :59) conrmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the discriminant validity of these constructs. The CFA was conducted with
AMOS (Arbuckle, 1997) comparing two measurement models: (1) a model in which
indicators of anticipated organizational support and job pursuit intentions loaded on
two distinct latent variables and (2) a model in which indicators of both constructs
loaded on a single latent variable. Results revealed that the t of the two-factor model (v2 (64) 232.69, RMR .042, GFI .899, PAGFI .633, NFI .922,
CFI .942) was signicantly better than the t of the one-factor model (v2
(65) 756.50, RMR .087, GFI .649, PAGFI .463, NFI .746, CFI .762),
supporting the discriminant validity of these constructs, v2 dierence (1) 523.81,
p < :05.

3. Results
3.1. Preliminary analysis
Prior to testing the hypotheses, coecient alphas were calculated. Measures
had satisfactory reliabilities, with alpha values ranging from .75 to .91. Means,
standard deviations, and correlations were run on all variables and are presented
in Table 1.

400

Table 1
Correlations between variables included in regression analyses
Mean
1. Schedule Flex 0.44
2. Dep Care
0.54
Benets
3. Salary
0.49
4. Sex
0.42
5. Hrs Work
41.35
6. FamInc
4.74
7. Race 1
0.08
8. Race 2
0.05
9. Race 3
0.05
10. Race 4
0.02
11. MarStat 1
0.33
12. MarStat 2
0.02
13. MarStat 3
0.05
14. MarStat 4
0.01
15. MarStat 5
0.08
16. W-to-F
2.77
Conict
17. F-to-W
2.14
Conict
18. Anticipated
3.42
Org Support
19. Job Pursuit
3.95

SD

0.50
0.50

()
).04

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

()

0.50
0.49
11.80
2.48
0.28
0.22
0.22
0.15
0.47
0.14
0.22
0.07
0.26
0.84

.02
).12
.04
.00
).05
.02
).06
).07
).02
.04
.06
).07
).03
.06

).02
).01
).06
).04
.02
.02
).03
.08
.04
.09
.02
.07
).02
.06

()
).02
).09
).07
.00
.02
).01
).12
).01
).02
).13
).07
.01
.00

()
).19
).03
.12
).05
).03
).08
.02
.00
.07
.06
.06
.17

()
.31
).08
).15
.01
.00
).19
.01
.06
).04
).01
.25

()
).11
.02
).06
.02
).43
).15
).18
.01
.10
.22

()
).07
).07
).05
.12
.03
.06
).02
.03
).07

()
).05
).04
.12
).03
).05
).02
.03
.03

()
).04
).01
).03
.00
).02
).06
).01

()
).04
).02
).04
).01
.09
.06

()
).10
).16
).05
).20
).02

()
).03
).01
).04
).13

()
).02
).07
).07

()
.02
).02

()
).12

(.81)

0.68

.05

).02

.00

.22

).01

.07

).12

.14

.00

.01

.09

).09

).04

).07

).05

.53

0.71

.27

.42

.02

.03

.04

).09

.01

.00

).06

).04

.04

.10

.03

0.81

.25

.20

.23

.02

.04

).13

.05

).02

).19

).02

).06

.11

).03

.11
).05

17

18

19

(.75)

).03

).07

).09

(.90)

.02

).04

).14

.59

(.91)

Notes. Schedule Flex work schedule exibility, 0 traditional schedule, 1 exible schedule; Dep Care Benets dependent care assistance benets, 0 no dependent care assistance benets, 1 has dependent
care assistance benets; Salary, 0 average salary, 1 above average salary; Hrs Work Average number of hours worked each week, FamInc Family Income where 1 less than $24,999, 2 $25,00034,999,
3 $35,00044,999, 4 $4554,999, 5 $5564,999, 6 $6579,999, 7 $80100,000, 8 more than $100,000; Race, 1 black vs. white, 2 asian vs. white, 3 hispanic vs. white, 4 other race vs. white; MarStat Marital Status where 1 single vs. widowed, 2 separated vs. widowed, 3 divorced vs. widowed, 4 married vs. widowed, 5 living with partner vs. widowed; W-to-F Conict Work-to-Family Conict,
1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree; F-to-W Conict Family-to-Work Conict, 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree; Anticipated Org Support Anticipated organizational Support, 1 strongly disagree to
5 strongly agree; Job Pursuit Job Pursuit Intentions, 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree.
*
p < :05.

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401

3.2. Control variables

Family income, marital status, and race were entered as control variables because
they were related to job pursuit intentions or anticipated organizational support. Sex
and hours worked were also controlled for because theoretically they were expected
to relate to study variables.
3.3. Hypothesis tests
Moderated regression analyses were run in which covariates were entered in step
one, independent variables were entered in step two, all two way interactions were
entered in step 3, and the three way interaction was entered in step 4. Two analyses
assessed the impact of the three independent variables on anticipated organizational
support (see Table 2) and job pursuit intentions (see Table 3).

Table 2
Dependent care assistance benets, work schedule exibility, and salary as predictors of anticipated organizational support
Variable

Block 1
Family income
Single vs. widowed
Separated vs. widowed
Divorced vs. widowed
Married vs. widowed
Living with Partner vs. widowed
Hours in paid work
African American vs. white
Asian vs. white
Hispanic vs. white
Other race vs. white
Sex
Block 2
Dependent care assistance
Work schedule exibility
Salary
Block 3
Schedule
dependent care interaction
Salary
schedule interaction
Dependent care
salary interaction
Block 4
Schedule
dependent care
salary

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

).11
).01
.10
.01
.11
.01
.09
.00
.03
).06
).07
).04

).12
).03
.04
).03
.10
.02
.12
).01
.02
).03
).09
).08

).11
).02
.05
).01
.09
.01
.11
.00
.04
).03
).08
).09

).11
).01
.05
).01
.09
.01
.11
.00
.04
).03
).08
).09

.43
.28
.02

.63
.50
.11

.66
.54
.15

).28
).07
).09

).34
).14
).15
.09

.05
.05

R
DR2
*

Standardized regression weights

Block 1

p < :05.

.30
.25

.33
.03

.33
.00

402

W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

Table 3
Dependent care assistance benets, work schedule exibility, and salary as predictors of job pursuit
intentions
Variable

Block 1
Family income
Single vs. widowed
Separated vs. widowed
Divorced vs. widowed
Married vs. widowed
Living with Partner vs. widowed
Hours in paid work
African American vs. white
Asian vs. white
Hispanic vs. white
Other race vs. white
Sex
Block 2
Dependent care assistance
Work schedule exibility
Salary
Block 3
Schedule
dependent care interaction
Salary
schedule interaction
Dependent care
salary interaction
Block 4
Schedule
dependent care
salary

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

).29
).19
.05
).11
).06
).01
.09
.05
.02
).13
).04
).04

).23
).18
.02
).11
).04
.00
.12
.04
.02
).10
).01
).08

).23
).16
.03
).10
).05
.01
.12
.03
.02
).11
).01
).09

).23
).17
.03
).10
).05
.01
.12
.03
.02
).11
).01
).09

.21
.27
.20

.34
.38
.37

.33
.36
.35

).08
).12
).17

).04
).08
).14
).05

.08
.08

R2
DR2
*

Standardized regression weights

.22
.14

.24
.02

.24
.00

p < :05.

Results revealed that both dependent care benets and work schedule exibility
were unique predictors of anticipated organizational support, conrming hypotheses
1 and 2. In addition, results revealed a signicant schedule
benets interaction in
predicting anticipated organizational support. The procedures described by Aiken
and West (1991) were used to graph the interaction. The graph (see Fig. 1) revealed
that dependent care benets had a greater impact on anticipated organizational support when organizations oered traditional work schedules than when organizations
oered exible work schedules.
Results also revealed unique eects (see Table 3) of both work-life benets in predicting job pursuit, supporting hypotheses 3 and 4. Salary was also a unique predictor of job pursuit intentions, supporting hypothesis 7a. Hypothesis 7b was examined
using a t test for dependent correlations (Cohen & Cohen, 1983). Results revealed
that the relationship between salary and job pursuit intentions was stronger than
the relationship between salary and anticipated organizational support, t (368)
4.52, p < :05, supporting hypothesis 7b.

W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

403

Fig. 1. Interaction of work schedule exibility and dependent care assistance benets in predicting anticipated organizational support.

3.4. Mediating eects

Hypotheses 5 and 6 were tested using the Baron and Kenny (1986) approach to
test for mediation. Baron and Kenny (1986) delineated three conditions necessary
for mediation: (1) the independent variable predicts the mediator; (2) the independent variable predicts the dependent variable; (3) when the dependent variable is regressed on the mediator and the independent variable simultaneously, variance
previously attributed to the independent variable is attributed to the mediator. Analyses revealed that the inuence of both dependent care and work schedule exibility
on job pursuit intentions was fully mediated by anticipated organizational support,
supporting hypotheses 5 and 6 (see Tables 4 and 5). These relationships are depicted
in Fig. 2.
3.5. Moderating eects
Finally, we examined workfamily conict and parental status as moderators
using moderated regression. Neither work-to-family nor family-to-work conict
exerted a main eect or moderated the eects of either work-life benet on anticipated organizational support or job pursuit intentions. Furthermore, parental status
did not exert a main eect on either anticipated organizational support or job pursuit
intentions, nor did it moderate the relationship between dependent care benets and
these outcomes. Given space limitations, tables reporting these results are not included here but are available from the rst author.

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W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

Table 4
Analyses exploring the mediating eects of anticipated organizational support (AOS) on the relationship
between dependent care assistance and job pursuit intentions
Predictor
Analysis 1
Dependent care
Analysis 2
Dependent care
Analysis 3
AOS
Dependent care

Dependent variable

R2

AOS

.15

.39

Job Pursuit Intentions

.04

.20

Job Pursuit Intentions

.33

.58
).02

Regression weight

Notes. Regression weights are standardized.

p < :05.
**
p < :01.
*

Table 5
Analyses exploring the mediating eects of anticipated organizational support (AOS) on the relationship
between work schedule exibility and job pursuit intentions
Predictor
Analysis 1
Schedule Flexibility
Analysis 2
Schedule Flexibility
Analysis 3
AOS
Schedule Flexibility

Dependent variable

R2

Regression weight

AOS

.07

.27

Job Pursuit Intentions

.06

.24

Job Pursuit Intentions

.34

.55
.08

Notes. Regression weights are standardized,  p < :05,



p < :01.

4. Discussion
This study extends past research in several ways. First, we nd unique and interaction eects of two distinct work-life policies, work schedule exibility and dependent care assistance. Second, we nd that the eects of both work-life policies on job
pursuit intentions are fully mediated by anticipated organizational support, suggesting a potential psychological mechanism through which these benets inuence job
pursuit intentions. Finally, we contribute to a discrepant literature with respect to
whether work-life benets are universally appealing or appeal only to those who
need them, with our ndings supporting universal appeal.
4.1. Unique eects of distinct work-life benets
The current study nds that both schedule exibility and dependent care assistance contribute uniquely to predicting anticipated organizational support and job
pursuit intentions. This suggests that organizations that expand existing work-life
programs may further enhance their desirability by portraying their organization
as even more supportive. However, there was also an interaction such that the eects

W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

Work
Schedule
Flexibility

.27*

Anticipated
Organizational
Support

.55*

405

JobPursuit
Intentions

.08

Dependent
Care
Assistance

.39*

Anticipated
Organizational
Support

.58*

JobPursuit
Intentions

-.02
Fig. 2. Mediating eects of anticipated organizational support for the relationships between work-life
benets (work schedule exibility and dependent care assistance benets) and job pursuit intention. Notes.
Regression weights on Fig. 2 are standardized; solid lines represent signicant links; dotted lines represent
non-signicant links.

of oering dependent care were stronger for organizations oering traditional work
schedules than for those with exible schedules. This could suggest greater opportunities for organizations to enhance their desirability to applicants when beginning a
new work-life program.
4.2. Anticipated organizational support
This research also nds that anticipated organizational support fully mediates the
relationship of both work-life benets with job pursuit intentions, suggesting that
perceptions of support may be a psychological mechanism through which these benets inuence behavioral intentions. Given that many study participants were childless, it is not surprising that the inuence of dependent care was fully mediated by
support perceptions. However, because exible schedules could facilitate managing
work and any non-work activity, it is somewhat surprising that this benet did
not directly impact pursuit intentions over and above support perceptions. Nonetheless, the mediating eects of anticipated organizational support may explain why individuals who are unlikely to use work-life policies are still more inclined to pursue
jobs with organizations that oer them.
Findings from this study also contribute to growing literature on the antecedents
and consequences of perceived organizational support (Eisenberger et al., 1990, 1997;
Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Research has demonstrated the importance of this
perception given its relationship with outcomes such as job performance and with-

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W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

drawal behaviors (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Organizational support theory posits that positive organizational conditions facilitate perceived organizational support
when they are perceived as discretionary and empirical work supports a link between
supportive conditions (e.g., organizational rewards) and perceived organizational
support (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002). Given that work-life benets are likely to
be perceived as discretionary, the relationship found between work-life benets and
anticipated organizational support is consistent with organizational support theory.
The mediating eects of anticipated organizational support are also consistent
with Grover and Crockers (1995) suggestion that work-life benets are universally
appealing because they create a perception that an organization is supportive. Organizations that are perceived as supportive may be desirable because applicants expect
that they would be treated well as an employee. This perception may generalize beyond support for non-work needs such that people expect supportive workplaces will
provide adequate resources, treat them fairly, recognize good work, value cordial interpersonal interactions, and encourage fair and understanding supervision. That is,
employees that do not need support for non-work issues may believe that organizations that support non-work needs would be supportive in other important ways. This
more generalized expectation of support may explain past ndings that work-life
policies have universal appeal (Grover & Crocker, 1995; Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997).
One practical implication to consider is that if people choose an organization because of support expectations and these expectations are not met post-employment,
this may lead to a perceived violation of the psychological contract, the belief [that]
individuals hold about promises made, accepted and relied on between themselves
and [their organization] (Rousseau, 1995, p. 9). The work-life literature includes
discussions of organizations where work-life policies are provided but the organizational culture does not support their use (Finkel, Olswang, & She, 1994; Perlow,
1995). Thus, although these benets may aid recruitment because they foster expectations that employers are supportive, if applicants join a culture that does not support benet use, violation of the psychological contract may result, leading to
negative attitudes and behaviors (Rousseau, 1995). Moreover, the realistic job preview literature suggests that providing information about both positive and negative
aspects of a job during recruiting is important to retention (Premack & Wanous,
1985). Accordingly, organizations oering work-life benets to enhance recruiting
should ensure their cultures are actually supportive of benet use to avoid perceived
violations of the psychological contract post-employment.
Finally, with respect to universal versus specic appeal of work-life benets, our
study supports universal appeal. Specically, neither parental status nor workfamily conict moderated the eects of work-life benets on anticipated organizational
support or job pursuit intentions. Consistent with Grover and Crocker (1995), our
study found that all individuals perceived employers oering work-life benets as
more supportive and desirable. This nding has encouraging implications for organizations utilizing work-life benets to enhance recruitment by suggesting that these
benets may enhance recruitment for diverse applicants. Taken together with ndings that work-life benets facilitated anticipated organizational support, this suggests that the universal appeal of these benets may be due to support perceptions.

W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

407

4.3. Limitations and directions for future research

Although this study contributes to the literature by delineating the impact of
work-life benets on job pursuit intentions and describing anticipated support as
one mediating process, some limitations exist to be addressed in future research. Although the experimental design used in this study is preferred because of its methodological rigor (Cook & Campbell, 1979), experiments are limited in the degree to
which real life can be simulated. Applicants making real job choices are exposed
to a more complex array of variables than this study could examine. Although worklife benets were the primary variables of interest, and another important factor in
job choice, salary, was included, it is possible that excluded variables might interact
with the variables explored in this research. Accordingly, future research should
examine the inuence of work-life policies on job pursuit in conjunction with other
factors that inuence job choice.
Another limitation was that our response rate (26%) was less than ideal. This was
likely because the survey was rather lengthy, as it took 45 min or longer to complete.
Thus, participants may have failed to complete the survey or decided not to complete
it because they felt it was too long. However, response rates around 30% are not uncommon for survey research (Dillman, 2000) and past studies utilizing similar methodologies report similar response rates (e.g., Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997 report a 22%
response rate). Nonetheless, the possibility of non-response bias cannot be ruled out.
Further, although our sample was diverse in many respects (organizations, industries, and geography), and more diverse than past studies examining only MBAs
(Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997; Rau & Hyland, 2002), the lower response rate may indicate that future research should examine the generalizability of ndings to distinct
populations.
Although we found work-life benets to have universal appeal, consistent with
several studies (Grover & Crocker, 1995; Honeycutt & Rosen, 1997), other research
has found that parental status (Rothausen et al., 1998) or workfamily conict (Rau
& Hyland, 2002) inuenced the appeal of work-life benets. Although this study
makes a key contribution by suggesting that support expectations represent a mechanism by which these benets might appeal to all people, additional work is needed
to resolve discrepant ndings. Dierent measures of individual dierences may have
resulted in moderating eects. For instance, in asking about parental status we asked
participants to indicate whether they planned to have children within 10 years. It
may have been the case that if a shorter time period had been chosen, plans to have
children would have functioned as a moderator. In addition, the individual dierences we examined in this study dealt primarily with family or work demands experienced by workers (i.e., parental status, workfamily conict). Future research
might examine personality or other trait-based individual dierences to determine
if such dispositional factors inuence the attractiveness of work-life benets. Given
that recent research suggests dispositional factors such as personality inuence how
people experience the workfamily interface (Carlson, 1999; Wayne, Musisca,
& Fleeson, in press), these individual dierences may also aect how applicants
perceive work-life benets.

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W.J. Casper, L.C. Buardi / Journal of Vocational Behavior 65 (2004) 391410

Our study also examined only two types of work-life benets, dependent care assistance, and exible work schedules. However, other work-life policies such as parental leave and relocation assistance (Zedeck & Mosier, 1990) could also be linked
to job pursuit intentions in future research. Researchers have also discussed policies
such as benets for same-sex domestic partners (Spielman & Winfeld, 1996). Because
domestic partner benets may be more controversial than other types of work-life
policies, future research might examine if such policies are less likely to be universally
desirable than benets such as extime or dependent care. These studies might shed
light on the issue of whether certain work-life benets may have universal appeal and
others may appeal only to those most likely to benet.
In addition to linking work-life benets into recruitment outcomes, research is
also needed to examine whether these benets inuence other organizational behaviors such as absenteeism, retention, productivity and organizational citizenship behaviors. Recent reviews of the literature have noted that additional studies of
workfamily policies are needed, and that the link between workfamily issues
and all types of organizational behaviors has been under-researched (Eby et al., invited monograph). Because such studies provide evidence that work-life policies
and workfamily issues relate to outcomes that matter to organizations, they may
be eective in driving organizational change by increasing the growth of work-life
initiatives.
A nal limitation involves the focus on the individual level of analysis. This research examined the impact of work-life policies on an individuals decision to pursue
employment in order to investigate the mediating psychological processes that drive
such decisions. Although these ndings may inform recruitment policies, research is
also needed at the organizational level. Findings of enhanced recruitment in organizations oering work-life benets would provide convergent validity for the usefulness of work-life benets to such eorts.
Despite limitations, this research contributes to the literature by supporting the
notion that organizations oering exible schedules and dependent care assistance
may be more desirable to a diverse array of applicants. Further, anticipated organizational support is identied as a mechanism by which this perception may develop.
Future research will aid in assessing if these ndings generalize to even more diverse
settings.

Acknowledgments
Portions of this research were presented at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology conference in 2000 in New Orleans, LA and 2001 in San Diego,
CA. This paper is based on the rst authors doctoral dissertation completed at
George Mason University under the supervision of the second author as chair.
The authors would like to thank Jose Cortina and Julie Mahler for serving on this
dissertation committee, Traci Sitzmann for her help with data analysis, and Chris
Bordeaux and Brian Meahan for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this
paper.

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409

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