When work legitimizes family favoritism: A cross-border moral licensing perspective on antecedents of unethical pro-family behavior

Unethical pro-family behavior (UPFB) is receiving increasing scholarly attention. However, the underlying mechanisms that drive this behavior remain underexplored. Integrating work/family border theory and moral licensing theory, we propose that UPFB arises when employees accumulate work-triggered family-oriented credits. We examine how supervisor bottom-line mentality (BLM) initiates this process and how illegitimate tasks amplify it. Drawing on data from two studies—a preregistered experiment and a four-wave, two-source, multi-industry field study—we reveal that supervisor BLM indirectly increases UPFB through employees’ heavy work investment and subsequent perceived work-triggered family-oriented credits. This serially mediated relationship is moderated by illegitimate tasks. The mediated relationship is more pronounced when illegitimate tasks are high. Our findings offer novel insights into the cross-domain moral licensing process, highlighting the interplay among supervisor-driven work demands, border-crossing dynamics, and unethical behavior.