Relationship of work-family conflict,gender, and alcohol expectancies to alcohol use/abuse

Numerous studies have documented a positive relationship between work-family conflict and both psychological distress and somatic symptoms. Little research, however, has explored the relationship of work-family conflict to alcohol use/abuse. Consequently, this study investigated the relationship of work-family conflict to several indicators of abusive alcohol consumption. In addition, the moderating influence of gender and tension-reduction expectancies was examined. Data were obtained through household interviews with a random sample of 473 employed adults. As hypothesized, work-family conflict was positively related to abusive alcohol consumption. In addition, there was strong support for the moderating influence of tension-reduction expectancies. As anticipated, the positive relationship between work-family conflict and abusive alcohol consumption was found almost exclusively among individuals who believe that alcohol use promotes relaxation and tension reduction. In contrast, the hypothesis that gender moderates the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use/abuse was not supported. Implications for future research and intervention efforts aimed at reducing alcohol abuse in the workforce are discussed.     

Role stressors,social support,and well-being among two-career couples

The study examined relationships among work and family role stressors, work—family conflict, social support, and well-being using data gathered from 119 men and 119 women who were partners in a two-career relationship. Results showed that within-domain relationships of stressors with well-being are stronger than between-domain relationships. Thus, work and family role stressors were primarily related to job satisfaction and family satisfaction respectively, whereas work and family role stressors as well as work—family conflict were associated with overall life stress. Similar results were found for the relationships of social support with well-being. Work support was associated with increased job satisfaction, while spouse support was associated with greater family satisfaction. Some gender differences were found in the relationships of stressors and social support with well-being. Implications of the findings for future research on work—family dynamics were discussed.     

Job stress,incivility, and counterproductive work behavior (CWB): the moderating role of negative affectivity

The current study was designed to replicate findings from previous research regarding the relationships between job stressors, negative affectivity, and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) using peer‐reported data and to assess the effects of workplace incivility on employee satisfaction and CWB. Results indicate that incivility, organizational constraints, and interpersonal conflict were negatively related to job satisfaction and positively related to CWB. Support was also found for the role of negative affectivity as a moderator of the relationship between job stressors and CWB, although only one significant moderator was found using peer‐reported CWB. In general, the relationships between job stressors and CWB were stronger for individuals high in negative affectivity than for individuals low in negative affectivity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents of work–family conflict: A meta‐analytic review

This study provides and meta‐analytically examines an organizing framework and theoretical model of work–family conflict. Results, based on 1080 correlations from 178 samples, indicate that work role stressors (job stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, time demands), work role involvement (job involvement, work interest/centrality), work social support (organizational support, supervisor support, coworker support), work characteristics (task variety, job autonomy, family friendly organization), and personality (internal locus of control, negative affect/neuroticism) are antecedents of work‐to‐family conflict (WFC); while family role stressors (family stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, time demands, parental demands, number of children/dependents), family social support (family support, spousal support), family characteristics (family climate), and personality (internal locus of control, negative affect/neuroticism) are antecedents of family‐to‐work conflict (FWC). In addition to hypothesized results, a revised model based on study findings indicates that work role stressors (job stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload) and work social support (organizational support, supervisor support, coworker support) are predictors of FWC; while family role stressors (family stressors, role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload), family involvement (family interest/centrality), family social support (family support, spousal support), and family characteristics (family climate) are predictors of WFC. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Source attribution matters: Mediation and moderation effects in the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and job satisfaction

On the basis of the source attribution perspective of work–family conflict, this study aims to first test whether threat to the family role mediates the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and job satisfaction. We then examine boundary conditions of the source attribution perspective by drawing on boundary management and gender role orientation theories to examine whether role segmentation enactment and gender role orientation moderate the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and job satisfaction. Using a scenario‐based experiment in Study 1, we find that threat to the family role mediates the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and job satisfaction. This finding provides evidence supporting the appraisal process proposed by the perspective of source attribution. Using survey data collected from 216 Chinese managers and their spouses in Study 2, we find that work‐to‐family conflict has a negative relationship with job satisfaction only among people with high levels of role segmentation between work and home. In addition, for male managers, the negative moderating effect of role segmentation enactment on the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and job satisfaction is stronger for those with a nontraditional gender role orientation, compared with those with a traditional gender role orientation. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

Type of employment,work–family conflict and well‐being: a comparative study

The study examined the impact of work and family role characteristics on work–family conflict, and indicators of psychological well being among self‐employed and organizationally employed women and men. Results show that employment type and gender have independent main effects on several of the study variables. Self‐employed persons enjoy greater autonomy and schedule flexibility at work, and report higher levels of job involvement and job satisfaction than those employed in organizations. However, they also experience higher levels of work–family conflict, and lower family satisfaction than organizational employees. The findings suggest that there are trade‐offs between the costs and benefits of self‐employment, and that business ownership is not a panacea for balancing work and family role responsibilties. Directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employed mothers: Interrole conflict,spouse support and marital functioning

Increased participation by mothers in the labour force may exert a negative effect on working mothers themselves (e.g. interrole conflict) and influence the marital relationship negatively. Recent research suggests that not all individuals experiencing psychological distress suffer psychological strain (e.g. marital discord). Rather, variables such as social support moderate negative effects of psychological stressors. To test this, sixty-four employed mothers (M age = 36 years) completed interrole conflict and spouse support scales. Marital satisfaction, verbal and nonverbal communication were the criteria operationalized to assess marital functioning. Using moderated multiple regression analyses, interrole conflict and spouse support predicted marital satisfaction and verbal communication significantly. In addition, spouse support may moderate negative effects of interrole conflict on marital satisfaction and verbal communication. With regard to nonverbal communication, spouse support was both a significant main effect and possibly a moderator of interrole conflict. The role of spouse support, conceptual and treatment implications, and future research priorities are identified.     

Work–family conflicts of women in the Air Force: their influence on mental health and functioning

This paper examined the effects of work and family stressors and conflicts on Air Force women's mental health and functioning. We analyzed data from a 1993 survey of representative stratified samples of 525 Air Force women from the active duty reserve and guard forces. The analyses of the data are guided by the comprehensive model of work–family conflict that has been tested by Frone, Russell, and Cooper (1992) using a large representative community sample. Structural equation modeling analyses provided support for the work–family conflict model. The analyses also provided support for an extension of the model, which included the separate effects of marital and parental roles on mental health. The extended model demonstrated that job and parental stresses had direct effects on work–family conflicts and that job and marital distress and family–work conflict had an independent adverse effect on mental health. Whereas job and parental involvement had a beneficial effect on distress, they had an adverse effect on work–family conflicts. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Promoting felt responsibility for constructive change and proactive behavior: exploring aspects of an elaborated model of work design

Although new theoretical models that are suggestive of how work design might be used to foster proactive motivation and proactive performance have been proposed, these models need further elaboration and testing if they are to be useful tools for contemporary organizations. Accordingly, we examine the extent to which feelings of responsibility for constructive change is a proactive psychological mechanism that explains how work design characteristics influence constructive change‐oriented behavior and proactive performance. Specifically, we examine job autonomy, position in the organizational hierarchy, access to resources, access to strategy‐related information, and role ambiguity as antecedents to felt responsibility for constructive change (FRCC). We also examine the extent to which feelings of responsibility for constructive change are positively related to voice behavior (i.e., constructive, change‐oriented communication) and continuous improvement (i.e., proactive role performance). Results indicate hierarchical position and access to resources are positively related to FRCC. Results also indicate proactive personality moderates the relationship between access to resources and FRCC and the relationship between access to strategy‐related information and FRCC. Plots of the interactions reveal that these relationships are enhanced for individuals with proactive personalities. The results also indicate that FRCC is positively related to voice behavior and continuous improvement. Perhaps more importantly, the results suggest that FRCC explains the psychological process by which structural and socio‐structural forces influence proactive behavior. The results are discussed as they pertain to updated work design theory and theories of high involvement work systems, job characteristics, and leadership prototypes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work—family conflict: A comparison of dual-career and traditional-career men

This research examines differences in the antecedents and consequences of work—family conflict — a form of interrole conflict that occurs when the demands of work and family are mutually incompatible in some respect — for two groups of career-oriented men: those with a homemaker wife (called traditional-career men) and those with a spouse in a career-oriented job (labelled dual-career men). Using a model built on the work of Kopelman, Greenhaus and Connolly (1983), the responses from 136 dual-career men and 137 traditional-career men were compared. The primary conclusion of this research is that maternal career employment has a significant effect on the antecedents of work — family conflict. Dual-career men appear to experience a significant negative spillover from their work domain. We suggest that this spillover is due to a lack of structural flexibility in the workplace, outdated organizational policies that operate on the myth of separate worlds' and a lack of social support for the male dual-career role which contradicts societal norms.     

Social support and managerial affective responses to job stress

This research examines the moderating or buffering effects of two social support variables—support from the work group and from the supervisor—on the relationships of role conflict and ambiguity to intrinsic job satisfaction, job involvement and job anxiety. Data were collected from a sample of 89 middle-lower managerial personnel in a large, heavy equipment manufacturing firm in the Midwest. The moderated regression technique was used in data analysis. Significant interactions were obtained between the role variables and both social support variables. The results were in the predicted direction for positive work outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and involvement) and contrary to prediction for negative work outcome (i.e. job anxiety). Implications of the findings for future research, the management of stress and leadership behaviour are discussed.     

How does spouse career support relate to employee turnover? Work interfering with family and job satisfaction as mediators

Employee turnover is a major concern because of its cost to organizations. Although theory supports the influence of nonwork factors on turnover, our understanding of the degree to which nonwork factors relate to actual turnover behavior is not well developed. Using a sample of 5505 U.S. Army officers, we assessed the extent to which spouse career support related to reduced turnover four years later through work interfering with family (WIF) and job satisfaction as mechanisms. Results revealed that spouse career support decreased the odds of turnover, and WIF and job satisfaction sequentially mediated this relationship, with lower WIF and higher job satisfaction reducing the odds of turnover. Practical implications of using family support systems as retention interventions are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role and expectancy participation model: An empirical assessement and extension

Four hypotheses were investigated. The results substantially support and extend the usefulness of Schuler's role and expectancy participation model (1980). Schuler's model posits that participation intervenes to attenuate the relationships between job objectives and role conflicts and ambiguity. Also, participation, role conflict and role ambiguity are assumed to intervene to attenuate the relationships between job objectives and job satisfaction. The four hypotheses were tested using a sample of 187 retail store managers. Results revealed that job objectives were related to the role variables and satisfaction. Participation significantly attenuated the job objectives, role conflict and job satisfaction relationships. Implications for the use of the attributes of job objectives approach to integrate other objective setting paradigms are discussed.     

Employee attitudes toward working with computers

This paper presents a theoretical analysis and empirical observations about the correlates of employees' attitudes toward working with computers. A measure of attitudes toward working with computers was developed and tested on a sample of 284 white collar employee from three manufacturing organizations. The expected structure of 'positive' attitudes and 'negative' attitudes (concerns) about working with computers was confirmed. Following a review of the related literature five hypotheses were proposed. Use of computers and job involvement were predicted to be positively related to attitudes toward computers. And levels of job involvement were expected to moderate the relationship between usage of computers on the job and attitudes toward computers. Both hypotheses were confirmed, although different dynamics were observed with positive attitudes than with concerns. It was found that employees who use a computer to support their work hold more positive attitudes than employees who report very limited use of the computer. And employees who are highly involved in their jobs, or committed to their organization typically reported lesser concern about working with computers than employees at a low level of job involvement. Moreover, a significant interaction was observed between job involvement and usage of computers in their relationship to attitudes toward working with computers. Further directions for research and theory development are suggested.     

The spillover effects of coworker,supervisor, and outsider workplace incivility on work‐to‐family conflict: A weekly diary design

This study used an experience sampling design to examine the spillover effects of experienced workplace incivility from organizational insiders (coworkers and supervisors, respectively) and organizational outsiders (patients and their visitors) on targets' work‐to‐family conflict and to test the mediating effect of burnout and the moderating effect of display rules. Data collected over five consecutive weeks from 84 full‐time nurses showed that within individuals, weekly experiences of coworker incivility and outsider incivility were positively related to weekly experience of work‐to‐family conflict, and burnout mediated these relationships while controlling for initial level of burnout before participants started a week's work. In addition, display rules, defined as the extent to which individuals perceive they are expected to display desired positive emotions and suppress negative emotions at work, moderated the relationship between outsider incivility and burnout; specifically, the positive relationship between weekly outsider incivility and burnout was stronger for individuals who perceived a higher level of display rules. Our findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating the mediating effect of burnout and the moderating effect of perceived display rules in the relationship between workplace incivility from multiple sources and work‐to‐family conflict from a resource perspective.     

The costs and benefits of working with one's spouse: A two‐sample examination of spousal support,work–family conflict,and emotional exhaustion in work‐linked relationships

Although the prevalence of employees working within the same workplace or occupation with their spouse has increased, relatively little research has examined their experiences. On the basis of the boundary and conservation of resources (COR) theories, we argue that higher levels of work–family role integration among work‐linked couples will lead to higher levels of spousal support resources and lower levels of work–family conflict. This will, in turn, lead to lower emotional exhaustion among employees in a work‐linked relationship. Among two samples of employees in a variety of occupations, we found that being in a work‐linked relationship was associated with both higher spousal instrumental support as well as different forms of work–family conflict. The interaction between spousal support and work–family conflict was associated with emotional exhaustion. We discuss the implications of these findings for boundary and COR theories in terms of movement of resources across work–family boundaries and resource relevance in the strain process. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linking work experiences to facets of marital functioning

Few studies on the interaction between work experiences and family functioning have focused on specific aspects of work and the family, nor have many studies identified links in the process whereby work affects the family. A four-stage model of how role ambiguity, role conflict, job insecurity and job satisfaction affect three aspects of marital functioning (sexual satisfaction, psychological aggression and general marital satisfaction) was tested. The two mediator variables linking work experiences and marital functioning were concentration difficulties and depression. In a sample of 190 employed married people the model fit the data. The three work stressors (ambiguity, conflict and job insecurity) affected all three aspects of marital functioning via concentration and depression, and the relationship between job satisfaction and marital functioning was mediated by depression.     

Attributional conflict between managers and subordinates: An investigation of leader-member exchange effects

The present study investigated the discrepancies, or conflict, between the attributions of leaders and members as a function of LMX quality and explored the relation between attributional conflict and subordinate job satisfaction, perceptions of equity, and turnover intentions. Data for the study were provided by 141 supervisor-subordinate dyads from the managerial ranks of a large manufacturing organization. Both parties of the dyad made attributions for subordinate loyalty, affect, and contributions, member behaviors identified as critical in previous LMX research. Limited support emerged for the hypothesis that attributional conflict would be greater in dyads where subordinates reported lower rather than higher LMX quality. Findings suggested that attributional discrepencies are due, in part, to the tendency of leaders to make more favorable attributions for subordinates reporting higher LMX quality than for subordinates reporting lower LMX quality. Results also revealed that, while attributional conflict was negatively related to subordinate satisfaction and perceptions of equity and positively related to turnover intentions, attributional conflict did not predict subordinate work outcomes when the effects of LMX quality were controlled. Implications of these findings were discussed.     

Dispositional affectivity as a predictor of work attitudes and job performance

Previous research has shown that dispositional negative affect (NA) is associated with lower levels of job satisfaction. Little research has been conducted, however, on other organizational implications of negative affect or on the potential effects of dispositional positive affect (PA). The present studies examined the relationship of both positive and negative affectivity to organizational commitment, turnover intentions, global job satisfaction and performance. In the first study both NA and PA were associated with organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Additionally, commitment mediated the relationship between dispositional affectivity and turnover. Finally, PA and tenure interacted to predict job performance, such that PA and job performance were positively related, but only for high tenure employees. In Study 2 the findings were generally similar, but not identical. Both NA and PA were related to global job satisfaction and turnover intentions. However, only PA was related to affective organizational commitment. Moreover, both job satisfaction and affective commitment mediated the relationship between dispositional affectivity and turnover intentions. Finally, unlike Study 1, PA was not related to job performance. Rather, NA and tenure interacted such that when individuals were lower in tenure, NA was negatively related to performance.     

Citizenship under pressure: What's a “good soldier” to do?

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are typically defined as discretionary behaviors that contribute to the effective functioning of organizations. Prior research has generally focused on instances in which employees willingly engage in such behaviors; however, because OCBs are often informally encouraged and rewarded, workers may experience pressure to be “good soldiers” within their organizations. Using a sample of 245 employees, our findings indicate that citizenship pressure is related to increased levels of OCB, particularly among unmarried and less conscientious employees. However, there appear to be negative consequences associated with citizenship pressure, even when controlling for OCB and other job demands, such as role overload and hours worked. In particular, citizenship pressure is associated with work–family conflict, work–leisure conflict, job stress, and intentions to quit. Implications of this study and some directions for future research are also discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.