Longitudinal profiles of work-family interface: Their individual and organizational predictors, personal and work outcomes, and implications for onsite and remote workers

Abstract

This study relied on person-centered analyses to improve our understanding of how the four components of the work-family interface (i.e., work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, work-to-family enrichment, and family-to-work enrichment) combine within specific profiles of employees. We also documented the stability of these profiles over time and their associations with theoretically-relevant predictors and outcomes. Finally, we examined whether these associations differed as a function of working remotely or onsite. A sample of 432 workers (152 working onsite and 280 working remotely) from the United States and the United Kingdom was recruited online and completed a questionnaire twice over a three-month period. Six profiles were identified and found to be moderately to highly stable over time: High Conflict, High Enrichment, Low Conflict and Low Enrichment, Low Conflict and High Enrichment, Low Conflict and Very High Enrichment, and Very Low Conflict. These profiles differed from one another in relation to work engagement, work-family balance satisfaction, work and family performance, and work and family authenticity, suggesting that the presence or absence of conflict between the work and home domains might be key in predicting workers' functioning. Harmonious passion for work predicted membership into the most desirable profiles, whereas obsessive passion, work centrality, and job demands had mixed effects on profile membership. Working onsite acted as a buffer against the detrimental effects of hindrance demands, while bolstering the benefits of challenge demands. Conversely, working remotely acted as a double-edged sword, maximizing the benefits of challenge demands and the risks of hindrance demands.