Transformational leadership strengthens work-family balance through interactional justice and trust in the police context

This study explores how Transformational Leadership (TFL) is related to work-family interaction—that is, the presence of work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family Enrichment (WFE)—within the Colombian Police, considering the mediating roles of Interactional Justice (IJ) and Trust in the leader. The research used the Conservation of Resources Theory and Job Demands-Resources Model to study survey responses from 2151 officers (85.2% men and 14.8% women) by applying structural equation modeling and bias-corrected bootstrapping methods. Results reveal that having a commander with a TFL style is directly related to officers developing cognitive, psychological and emotional resources that could allow them to improve their performance in their family. Similarly, the findings indicate that the negative relationship between Transformational Leadership (TFL) and officers’ WFC is consistent with an indirect pathway involving the development of IJ and trust in their commander. Although the direct relationship between TFL and WFC was positive, the presence of IJ and Trust seems to harness the exhibition of the commander’s TFL, ultimately reducing officers’ levels of WFC. These results highlight the particularities of these relationships within the complex and high-demanding organizational context of police. Likewise, they underscore the relevance of IJ and trust as possible pathways through which leadership is related to officers’ well-being. The implications of these findings for leadership development and the well-being, retention, and recruitment of officers in police contexts are thoroughly discussed.