The Effects of Unanswered Supervisor Support on Employees' Well-Being, Performance, and Relational Outcomes

While the consequences of not having access to supervisor support have been well established, little is known about the repercussions of actively asking a supervisor for social support but failing to receive it. Our research examines this phenomenon, termed unanswered support. Drawing from Self-Determination Theory, we expected that lower need satisfaction would mediate the negative relationship between unanswered support and its predicted outcomes (well-being, performance, and relational outcomes). We also expected that attributions for the lack of support would moderate these indirect effects. In Study 1, 280 employees in the UnitedKingdom took part in a quasi-experimental field study, where we examined the nature of the relationships between the variables. In Study 2, we recruited 267 undergraduate students at an Australian university and experimentally manipulated unanswered support during a work simulation to investigate its causal effects. Across both studies, unanswered support indirectly affected the outcomes through lower need satisfaction. There was minimal evidence for the hypothesized moderating role of attributions. Unanswered supervisor support appears to reduce employees' psychological need satisfaction, negatively impacting how they feel, behave, and connect with others. Our research highlights the importance of leaders answering requests for support, and the findings have implications for employees, supervisors, and organizations.