Family-friendly organizational culture and a mutual aid mindset are associated with supervisors' work role performance, wellbeing, and positive attitudes toward male parental leave in Japan

Introduction Although male parental leave policies in Japan have progressed, the associations between male subordinates' leave and supervisors' performance and wellbeing remain unclear. This study examined workplace and psychological factors associated with supervisors' outcomes when their male subordinates take parental leave. Methods A cross-sectional web survey of 365 section-chief level managers who had supervised at least one male subordinate who took parental leave assessed work role performance, wellbeing, positive attitudes toward male parental leave, motivation, family-friendly organizational culture, and mutual aid mindset. Results Path analyses showed that retrospectively reported family-friendly organizational culture and mutual aid mindset during the period before the subordinate's parental leave were positively associated with retrospectively reported cooperative motivation during the leave period. However, mutual aid mindset was also positively associated with learning-oriented motivation during the same period. Further, learning-oriented motivation and mutual aid mindset were positively associated with current work role performance. Cooperative motivation was also positively associated with current wellbeing and positive attitudes toward male parental leave, and mutual aid mindset was directly associated with positive attitudes toward male parental leave. Discussion The findings highlight the potential relevance of mutual aid mindset and learning-oriented and cooperative motivation to supervisors' work-related and psychological outcomes. The context of male parental leave may involve not only additional workplace demands but also positive experiences for supervisors.