A resource-based perspective on work–family conflict: meta-analytical findings

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an updated and theory-driven meta-analysis of work–family conflict (WFC). The authors quantitatively review the relationships between WFC and three pairs of antecedents and several consequences. Design/methodology/approach A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the research model. Specifically, the authors adopt a resource-based perspective (i.e. conservation of resources (COR) theory) to investigate the relationships between three pairs of antecedents (demand/control, autonomy/hours spent at both work and family domains and role overload/flexibility) and WFC. While COR theory argues that resource loss perceptions would generate much more influential impact on individuals comparing to that of resource gain, both favourable and unfavourable antecedents, representing resource gain and resource loss, respectively, are incorporated in each pair of antecedents. This inclusion of contrary antecedents allows the authors to investigate the comparison of the relationships between the favourable antecedents – WFC relationships and the unfavourable factors – WFC relationships. In addition, the authors analyse how and to what extent WFC influences employees’ attitudes (i.e. commitment), behaviours (i.e. performance) towards both work and family, and their career consequences. Findings The meta-analytical findings generally support the hypotheses. Work and family demands are found positively related to WFC, while having a control at either work or family would be negatively related to WFC. Perceiving a high level of autonomy at work is negatively related to WFC, and hours spend at work has a positive relation with WFC. Role overload at both work and family are associated with WFC, while having flexibility from work schedule would be negatively related to WFC. In addition, WFC is negatively related to employee career development outcomes. Originality/value First, the authors adopt a resource-based view to organise both favourable and unfavourable antecedents of WFC. Second, this paper aims at extending the investigation on WFC consequences to performance at both work and family, commitment to both work and family, and employee career outcomes, because all of them are critical consequences but not fully explored in previous meta-analyses. Third, this paper has incorporated newly explored correlates of WFC (e.g. employee career development-related outcomes) and quantitatively reviewed their relationships with WFC.

Managing boundaries between work and non‐work domains: Personality and job characteristics and adopted style

“…Job demands, broadly defined, may necessitate greater interruptions of non‐work (e.g., being on call), may limit interruptions of work (e.g., bus drivers cannot answer their cell), and may influence perceptions of control over one’s time and focus. Indeed, prior meta‐analytic work has demonstrated that job flexibility and higher autonomy at work relate to having less work–family conflict (Liao, Lau, Hui, & Kong, 2019). Thus, in boundary theory terms, job characteristics can impact boundary flexibility and permeability.…”

Taking the Pandemic by Its Horns: Using Work-Related Task Conflict to Transform Perceived Pandemic Threats Into Creativity

“…Experiencing adverse, resource-depleting work situations can frustrate employees. It undermines the quality of their personal well-being, their professional functioning, and even their future career prospects (Ilies et al, 2020;Liao et al, 2019). In many cases, this sort of adversity results from the organizational context itself; when they get to work, employees might confront dysfunctional organizational politics (Jam et al, 2017), bullying behaviors by coworkers (Magee et al, 2017), or excessive workloads (Avery et al, 2010), for example.…”

Work–Family Conflict, Emotional Responses, Workplace Deviance, and Well-Being among Construction Professionals: A Sequential Mediation Model

“…Prior work on project management or construction management has focused on work-family conflict issues and has examined the consequences of conflict, including burnout [10,11], turnover intention [12], sleep problems [13], organizational commitment [5,14], and project citizenship behavior [5]. A great deal of research on permanent organizations has focused on the detrimental effects of work-family conflict on mental health (e.g., strain [15], subjective well-being [8]), work attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction and life satisfaction [16,17]), and behaviors (e.g., aggressive behavior [18]). The intensive and chronic work-family conflict suffered by construction professionals, such as construction site managers, on-site estimators or operatives, and civil or structural engineers [19,20], is thus likely to undermine their mental health and increase their engagement in problem behaviors.…”