Development and Validation of a Veteran-Supportive Supervisor Behavior Measure

Despite efforts of thousands of post-9/11 veterans to reintegrate into the civilian workforce, little research attention has focused on organizational support for their needs. Using data from a sample of nearly 500 post-9/11 veterans and service members employed in a variety of organizations, the authors developed and validated a measure of veteran-supportive supervisor behaviors (VSSB), defined as behaviors exhibited by supervisors that are supportive of veterans and service members. Results provide evidence of construct, criterion-related, and incremental validity of the measure, and show that VSSB is significantly related to work-family and well-being outcomes, over and above other measures of supervisor support.