Work-to-family Conflict Research Articles

Unleashing the missing link between work-family conflict and affective commitment: implications for health professionals

PurposeElucidating on the theoretical framework of conservation of resource and social identity theories, we aim to explore the association between work-family conflict (bidirectional, i.e. work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC)) and affective commitment (AC) via emotional exhaustion (EE). Besides, the buffering effect of organizational identification (OI) in the bi-directional work-family conflict and EE relationship and perceived interactional justice (PIJ) between EE and AC were also tested.Design/methodology/approachA multi-time study was conducted in which data from 675 doctors working in different public hospitals across India were gathered at three-time intervals (T1, T2 and T3). The collected data were then analyzed using statistical software tools, namely AMOS 24 and SPSS v23.FindingsIt was indicated that WFC and FWC have a significant negative association with AC. EE was shown to mediate the relationship between bi-directional work-family conflict and AC. Additionally, OI buffered the relationship between WFC, FWC and EE. Moreover, PIJ was established as a moderating factor in the relationship between EE and AC.Originality/valueThis paper provides a new insight into the work-family conflict-AC relationship by examining it through the mediating role of EE. It offers a nuanced understanding by establishing the buffering effects of OI in the bi-directional WFC and EE. To our knowledge, this research represents the inaugural attempt to investigate the moderating influence of PIJ in the relationship between EE and AC.

Parents' work demands on next day's cortisol awakening response - the moderating role of family-to-work conflict

BackgroundConstant availability, overtime and feeling overwhelmed by work can impact employees' wellbeing and their biological stress responses. Especially working parents often struggle to balance the demands of their work and family life and were found to be distracted from their work due to family responsibilities. The Family-to-Work Conflict (FWC) indicates the extent to which participating in work is made difficult by family demands. Recent studies have found associations between FWC and biological outcomes such as the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR), a measure of an individual's Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA)-axis activity. This diary study investigates the effect of parental work demands on next day's cortisol response as well as the moderating role of FWC and the mediating role of fatigue. MethodsOver the course of five consecutive days (from Monday to Friday), 168 observations were made on a total of 42 parents. Participants had at least one child and worked a minimum of 20 hours per week. Salivary cortisol samples were obtained immediately, 15 and 30 minutes after awakening each day. Work demands, FWC and fatigue were assessed using standardized questionnaires. Within-person effects were examined using multilevel modeling and mediation analyses. ResultsOur results indicate that there are no main effects of work demands on next day's cortisol response. The multilevel analysis revealed that FWC predicts lower wakening cortisol levels and confirmed FWC as an increasing moderator between work demands and next day's HPA-axis activity. Further, work overload was found to increase fatigue, which in turn leads to higher CAR on the following day. This indicates that fatigue mediates the relationship between work demands and CAR. Our findings add to a growing body of research demonstrating further predictors for HPA-axis activity and emphasise the importance of considering family related demands when investigating biological outcomes for working parents.

Love on the rocks: Unraveling effects of remote employees' work–family conflict on couples' divorce intentions

AbstractThis research examines the detrimental impact of remote employees' work‐to‐family conflict (WFC) on divorce intentions for both the remote employee and spouse. Building upon the spillover‐crossover framework and relative deprivation theory, we examine the paths of spillover to the remote employee's divorce intentions, crossover influences of a remote employee's WFC on divorce intentions through the spouse (i.e., relative deprivation, resentment toward the employee's remote work, and relationship tension), and crossback of the remote employee's WFC through the spouse and back to their own divorce intentions. Surveying 311 remote employees and their spouses at two‐time points, we find that remote employee WFC predicts divorce intentions for the remote employee through the spillover path. Further, the remote employee WFC crosses over to the spouse through two different paths to impact spouse divorce intentions. Taken together, our research extends the existing WFC literature and broadens our understanding of the spillover and crossover effects through which remote employees' WFC could undermine both partners' perceptions of the marital relationship.

Intra- and Inter-Individual Associations of Family-to-Work Conflict, Psychological Distress, and Job Satisfaction: Gender Differences in Dual-Earner Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the work-family interface dynamics in some families. For couples who kept earning a double income during the pandemic, their family demands may entail a loss of psychological resources that affect the work domain. This study explored the intra-individual and inter-individual (crossover) direct and indirect effects of family-to-work conflict (FtoWC) on psychological distress and job satisfaction in a non-probabilistic sample of 860 different-sex dual-earner parents with adolescent children from Temuco and Rancagua, Chile. Mothers and fathers answered an online questionnaire measuring FtoWC, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and the Overall Job Satisfaction Scale. The data were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence model with structural equation modeling. Results showed that a higher FtoWC is linked to greater psychological distress and lower job satisfaction in both parents. In contrast, psychological distress is directly linked to lower job satisfaction in fathers. In both fathers and mothers, they and their partners' FtoWC were indirectly linked to lower job satisfaction via the fathers' psychological distress. These findings indicate the need for gender-sensitive social and labor policies aimed at reducing the conflict between family and work to increase job satisfaction in both parents and reduce psychological distress, particularly in fathers.

How Work Hour Variability Matters for Work-to-Family Conflict

Variable work hours are an understudied source of work-to-family conflict (WFC). We examine the relationships between the magnitude and direction of work hour variability and WFC and whether work hour control and schedule predictability moderate these relationships. We estimate a series of linear regressions using the 2016 US General Social Survey, examining women and men workers separately and together. Findings indicate that as the magnitude of work hour variability increases, so does WFC, controlling for the usual number of hours worked. Work hour control helps to protect workers, especially women, from WFC when work hour variability is high and hours surge. Although schedule predictability tempers the relationship between work hour variability and WFC, its potency diminishes as variability increases. Our study emphasizes the potential benefit to workers and families of government policies and employer practices that promote work hour stability, schedule predictability, and equity in employee work hour control.

Effects of work-to-family conflict on job satisfaction and reparative behaviors

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the indirect impact of work-to-family conflict (WFC) on job satisfaction and reparative behaviors toward family members through work-to-family guilt (WFG). In addition, it seeks to explore the moderating effect of intrinsic motivation on the relationship between WFC and WFG.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two studies. Study 1 used a scenario-based experiment to investigate the mediating effect of WFG. Study 2 examined all the proposed hypotheses via survey data.FindingsStudy 1 revealed that WFC had a negative effect on job satisfaction. Concurrently, it exerted a positive impact on reparative behavioral intentions toward family members through WFG. Subsequently, Study 2 demonstrated that intrinsic motivation moderated the relationship between WFC and guilt. Furthermore, it also moderated the indirect effect of WFC on job satisfaction through WFG. Moreover, a positive relationship between WFG and reparative behaviors existed only among nontraditional men.Originality/valueThis study enriches existing literature on WFG by clarifying its impact on reparative behaviors toward family members. Moreover, it contributes to the contingent view of the source attribution perspective by highlighting intrinsic motivation as a significant boundary condition in the source attribution process.

Associations of work-family conflict with changes in metabolic risk factors: a four-year longitudinal study.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is becoming prevalent among younger people who have dual roles at both work and home. A possible contributor to CVD is conflict between work and home life. Thus, this study investigated the impact of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) on metabolic risk factors. We used longitudinal data with a 4-yr interval from the Midlife in Japan study. 152 participants who were employed at baseline without missing variables of interest were included. We assessed the associations of baseline WFC and FWC with changes in metabolic risk factors between baseline and follow-up using Generalized Estimating Equations. After adjusting for baseline sociodemographic, work and family-related, and lifestyle factors, the fully adjusted model showed WFC was significantly associated with changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and Total cholesterol (TC)/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio. However, FWC was not significantly associated with changes in any metabolic risk factors. Our findings indicated a significant impact of WFC on LDL-C and TC/HDL-C ratio but no significant impact of FWC on metabolic health. Since these metabolic risk factors cause CVD, understanding the physiological responses to occupational psychosocial stress could help create primary prevention interventions and assess their effects on workers' metabolic health.

Work–family conflict and behavioral outcomes of Chinese female leaders: the mechanisms of work–family guilt and family centrality

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of work-to-family conflict (WFC) on unethical pro-family behavior (UPFB) and work engagement (WE) among Chinese female leaders. In addition, this study investigates the mediating role of work-to-family guilt (WFG) and the moderating role of family centrality (FC) in these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was adopted, involving the collection of data through online questionnaires administered at three time points. These data were analyzed using hierarchical regression and the bootstrapping method to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings WFC exhibited a significant positive correlation with UPFB and a negative correlation with WE; WFG played a mediating role in the relationships between WFC and both UPFB and WE; and FC had a significant moderating effect on the relationship between WFC and WE. Originality/value This study sheds light on a model of WFC and its related effects, reveals how WFC affects UPFB and WE and uncovers the mediating role of WFG and the moderating role of FC; pays attention to a unique organizational behavior, UPFB, which enriches research on the antecedents influencing such behaviors; and examines Chinese female leaders in organizations, their current experience of WFC and the resulting psychological and behavioral outcomes.

How Domestic Violence Associates with Work and Family Conflicts by Religiosity Among Married Persons

Abstract Previous studies have investigated different psychological factors predicting domestic violence. However, there has been limited research on the roles of work and family conflicts i.e., work-to-family (WFC) and family-to-work (FWC) conflicts and religiosity. This study, therefore, probed the predictive role that work, and family conflicts enforce on domestic violence among selected persons who are married in Osun state, Nigeria and also investigated the indirect effect of religiosity in the association. A cross-sectional research design consisting of 220 married persons (Mean age = 35.40, SD = 5.87, Females = 58.6%) responded to the domestic violence scale (DVS), work and family conflict scale (WFCS), and religiosity scale (RS). Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed a significant predictive effect of family-to-work conflict (FWC) on domestic violence among married persons. The study also found that religiosity plays a significant predictive role in domestic violence among married persons. The mediation analysis using Hayes PROCESS Macro indicated that the link between FWC and domestic violence was partially mediated by religiosity as the direct effect, total effect and indirect effect of this association are all significant. The study, therefore, concluded that FWC has a direct significant impact on domestic violence and that religiosity plays a significant part in the link between FWC and domestic violence among married persons. The study recommended that religious leaders should further provide guidance on managing family-related conflicts among married persons.

Job insecurity and work–family interface as predictors of mental and physical health: The moderating role of family–work stereotype threat

AbstractWhile a growing body of literature links the stressor of job insecurity (JI) with poor employee well‐being and increased work‐to‐family conflict (WFC), the current study specifically tests WFC as an explanatory mechanism of the relationships between affective JI (i.e., emotional reactions to the perceived threat to one's job) and poor health outcomes (i.e., mental and physical health). Moreover, this study uniquely examines how family–work stereotype threat (FWST; i.e., fears of confirming negative stereotypes about workers with family obligations) may exacerbate the relationship between perceived threats to one's job and employee reports of WFC. Using a cross‐country design, data from 707 employees in the United States (two‐wave) and 763 employees nested within 100 organizations in Italy (multilevel, cross‐sectional) largely supported the hypothesized mediation model. Specifically, WFC explains the association of JI with individual mental and physical health in both countries. Moreover, FWST exacerbates the direct relation of JI with WFC in the United States, but not in Italy. These findings suggest that the fear of losing one's job may prompt employee experiences of WFC and subsequent poorer physical and mental health; additionally, in the United States, this effect is even stronger among employees who reported higher levels of FWST. We interpret these heterogeneous findings in the light of nation‐related factors in managing increasingly insecure employment markets, especially after the COVID‐19 pandemic. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed for improving both health and work–life boundary management of post‐pandemic workers.

Work Connectivity Behavior After-Hours and Turnover Intention: A Configuration Perspective

The use of Internet tools virtually increases the work connectivity behavior after-hours (WCBA), is becoming increasingly common. Previous studies have found that WCBA has a double-edged sword effect on turnover intention (TI), but the configuration effect had been ignored. To investigate the configuration effect of WCBA, internal factors (i.e., psychological capital and mindfulness), and external factors (i.e., family-to-work conflict and social support), on TI. A total of 305 participants have been collected using convenience sampling. A questionnaire that covers six personal and contextual scales of the WCBA, psychological capital (PsyCap), mindfulness, family-to-work conflict (FWC), social support (SS), and TI, was used to gather data. Adhering to configurational theory, the study was conducted using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). it was revealed that seven antecedent configurations could achieve high TI, among them, WCBA existed in S4 and S6 but was absent in S5 and S7. Moreover, WCBA can exist and be absent in S1-S3 simultaneously; and for the 13 configurations that achieve low level of TI, WCBA can exist or not. Therefore, although the achievement of low level of TI is to some extent influenced by WCBA, it relies more on the influence of other factors (i.e., PsyCap, mindfulness, ∼ FWC, and SS). The study proves that WCBA has a double-edged effect on TI. The absence of FWC and existence of SS, PsyCap, and mindfulness are critical variables to buffer the loss of psychological resources caused by WCBA and recover psychological resources in time. These results may be helpful to recognize the negative effect of WCBA existence, accompanied with the absence of mindfulness on TI; also, the absence of SS was as crucial as the existence of FWC in the process of achieving high level of TI.

Work interrupted at home: examining the influence of supportive teleworking practices on work–family conflict

PurposeBy utilizing boundary theory and distraction–conflict theory, this study attempted to examine the influential process of supportive teleworking practices granting work scheduling autonomy on work-to-family conflict (WFC) via the mediating mechanism of work interruption initiated from home.Design/methodology/approachThe study conducted two-wave online questionnaire survey to obtain a final sample of 277 remote knowledge workers in Taiwan during the peak period of COVID-19 pandemic. Hypotheses were tested with partial least squares-structural equation modelling using SmartPLS 3.0 software.FindingsThe results revealed that supportive teleworking practices did not directly decrease the level of WFC while home-sourced work interruptions fully mediated the negative relationship between supportive teleworking practices and WFC.Originality/valueThis provides a more nuanced explanation for how and why supportive teleworking practices are beneficial for employees to cope with the challenge of work–home interferences under the new ways of working. The findings simultaneously address evidence-based practices to better deal with mandatory teleworking during potential societal crisis beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

What happened to parents’ work-family conflict from before to during COVID-19? Findings from a longitudinal Australian study

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the lives of working parents, yet there are limited longitudinal data examining the impact on parents’ work-family conflict. This study aimed to (i) describe parents’ work-to-family conflict (WtFC) and family-to-work conflict (FtWC) before and during the pandemic, including change and stability over time, and (ii) identify which parents were at risk of adverse conflict transitions. Survey data were collected from a national cohort of Australian parents in 2016 and 2020 (n = 1196). WtFC and FtWC levels were examined at both timepoints, and conflict transitions between timepoints were classified as never, conscript, escape and chronic. Findings show that WtFC and FtWC levels eased overall, yet there was significant individual variation in parents’ conflict transitions with some conscripting into high WtFC (12%) or FtWC (12%) and many reporting chronically high WtFC (45%) or FtWC (29%). Logistic regressions examined the predictors of conscript and chronic transitions, with gender (women), socio-economic (financial difficulties), care (single parent, younger children) and job (self-employment, long work hours, working from home) inequalities continuing to shape poorer experiences at the work-family interface during COVID-19. This study contributes evidence on how work-family conflict changed for Australian parents from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mothers' work‐to‐family conflict, depressive symptoms, and parental role functioning: A five‐wave, cross‐lagged panel model from infancy through middle childhood

AbstractObjectiveThe goal of this work was to examine the potential implications of mothers' work‐to‐family conflict (WFC) for their sensitivity and provision of learning opportunities in parenting from infancy through middle childhood, with maternal depressive symptoms tested as a possible mediator.BackgroundTo inform practice more effectively, researchers need to delineate the temporal dynamics for maternal experiences of work–family interface and also elucidate their dynamic implications for parenting over the family life course.MethodFive‐wave, cross‐lagged panel models with mediators were tested using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD).ResultsAlthough little evidence was obtained with respect to the direct links, several indirect effect cascades were identified, such that WFC at an earlier wave was associated with compromised parental functioning at a later wave via increases in depressive symptoms at a middle wave, regardless of child development periods and parenting domains and being net of extensive covariates. In addition, a transactional pattern emerged for the positive link between maternal WFC and mental distress over time. A large set of supplementary analyses were also conducted to test the robustness of the identified effects and to address potential moderating roles of some key covariates (e.g., child temperament difficulty).ConclusionSuch findings highlight the importance of illuminating the temporal dynamics for the link between maternal experiences of work–family interface and parenting from a life course perspective.ImplicationsIrrespective of child development periods and parenting domains, interventions targeted at facilitating mothers' navigation of work–family challenges as well as improving their psychological well‐being appear to be ultimately beneficial for their parental role functioning.

Family-to-work conflict and instigated incivility: The role of negative affect and family supportive supervisor behaviours.

While prior research has extensively explored outcomes of family to-work conflict (FWC), our understanding of how FWC may impact employees' negative interpersonal behaviours at work such as workplace incivility is limited. Given the serious implications of workplace incivility, the current study seeks to understand the relationship between FWC and instigated incivility via the mediating role of negative affect. The moderating role of family supportive supervisor behaviours (FSSB) is also investigated. We collected data from 129 full-time employees over three waves with six weeks in between. Results revealed that FWC positively predicted instigated incivility, and negative affect mediated this relationship. In addition, the positive effect of FWC on negative affect as well as the indirect effect of FWC on instigated incivility through negative affect were weaker for individuals experiencing more FSSB, suggesting that family related support from supervisors may attenuate the effect of FWC on employees' negative affect and its indirect effect on instigated incivility via negative affect. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Crossover effects of parent work-to-family experiences on child work centrality: A moderated mediation model.

Work-to-family conflict (WFC) and work-to-family enrichment (WFE) are prevalent experiences among working parents. Past research has highlighted the negative consequences of WFC and the positive implications of WFE for the focal person and crossover effects on significant others, such as spouses. However, research on crossover effects on children is sparse, especially in terms of their emerging work beliefs, such as work centrality. To address this research void, based on social support and role-modeling literature, we propose that parental WFC and WFE relate to child work centrality through perceptions of parental career support (an instrumental path) and parental job satisfaction (a sociocognitive path). In addition, we investigated whether these effects are moderated by parental intrinsic work motivation. Results from time-lagged data of 193 parent-child dyads in Switzerland (Study 1) showed that parental WFC (but not WFE) was negatively related to child perceptions of parental job satisfaction, especially when parental intrinsic work motivation was low. Child perceptions of parental job satisfaction were, in turn, positively related to child work centrality, which was positively associated with their job involvement 1 year later when they were in vocational education and training. A second study (Study 2) using a sample of German adolescents with additional control variables corroborated the specific relation between child perceptions of parental job satisfaction and child work centrality. We discuss the implications of our findings for the work-family crossover and work centrality literature. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Evaluating higher education (HE) work design to sustain academics' work–life balance

PurposeThis paper aims to examine work design and the linkages of work design with the work–life balance of academics in higher education (HE).Design/methodology/approachA sample of 307 academics was recruited for this study. The result was analysed using SPSS (statistical package of social science) and AMOS (analysis of moment structure) structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsThis paper discovered that high autonomy, task significance, task identity and feedback were linked to greater work-to-family enrichment (W-FE) levels amongst academics, whilst, low job autonomy, task identity and task significance were linked to high work-to-family conflict (W-FC) levels.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the importance of promoting good academics' work–life balance by evaluating and improvising the academics' work design.

Spillover of Workplace Incivility on Family Satisfaction of Nurses: Role of Work-to-Family Conflict and Family Support

This study aims to examine the association between workplace incivility and family satisfaction through the mediating variable of work-family conflict. Family support is used as the moderating variable in the association between workplace incivility and work-family conflict. Data were collected from 420 staff nurses working in the public sector hospitals of Punjab, Pakistan. PLS-SEM was used to test the proposed relationships. Employees who have experienced workplace incivility reported lower levels of family satisfaction through the mediating variable work-to family conflict. Family support moderates the relationship between workplace incivility and work-family conflict in such a way that with the increase in family support, the positive association is weakened. This study contributes to the current knowledge and literature with a more comprehensive picture of the work stressors that lead to non-work negative outcomes in the family domain of employees.

Does Religiosity Buffer the Adverse Mental Health Effects of Work-Family Strain? Examining the Role of an Overlooked Resource

North American employees face substantial challenges in managing their work and family lives. Drawing from Hobfoll’s 2001 conservation of resources (COR) theory, work-family scholars have argued that some resources can be effective in buffering conflict in the work-family interface. We analyze data from a national sample of Canadian workers ( N = 3,431) to assess how two components of religion/spirituality—religious attendance and divine control—buffer the mental health effects of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC). Results suggest that both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict were associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Our results further reveal that religious attendance buffered the pernicious effects of both WFC and FWC for psychological distress, while divine control only buffered the effects of FWC. These patterns did not appear to differ by gender. Given increasing rates of work-family strain in the North American context, out findings call for a broadening of the literature on the work-family interface, one that takes into consideration the overlooked role of religion and spirituality.

Crossing the line: The violating effects of illegitimate interruptions from work and the differential impact on work‐to‐family conflict by gender

SummaryDespite interruptions from work being increasingly common for many employees, their inherently disruptive nature induces strain on the work–life interface; yet, it remains unclear why the experienced strain is not universal. Drawing on role identity and Stress‐as‐Offense‐to‐Self theories, illegitimate interruptions from work (IIWs) are inappropriate, avoidable, unnecessary, or unreasonable interruptions that carry an added meaning of disrespect, thereby presenting a threat to the self and potentially inducing additional unnecessary strain. Differential value placed on professional and personal roles likely shapes attributions of illegitimacy. We collected event‐based data over 5 days from 182 employees (432 interruptions). Our multilevel moderated mediation model established IIW's indirect effect on work‐to‐family conflict (WFC) via boundary violation, above and beyond the negative effects of interruptions themselves. Thus, subjectively ascribed illegitimacy induces further but potentially unnecessary negative strain. Men were more likely to experience boundary violation in reaction to IIWs and subsequently reported more WFC as compared to women. Yet, although results suggest that IIWs may be a more salient immediate threat to men, it is possible that women's higher threshold for IIWs may present a more distal threat for gender parity. We offer guidance for developing strategies to reduce IIWs and mitigate their impact.