The Interface of Work to Family Conflict and Racioethnic Identification: An Analysis of Hispanic Business Professionals

Abstract

This article examines work to family conflict for Hispanic Business Professionals with varied levels of Hispanic identity. Based on this study of 971 Hispanics from across the United States, results show that level of Hispanic identity moderates the relationship between work to family conflict and job satisfaction. The authors posit that identification with a culture of collectivism may attenuate the negative impact of work to family conflict on job satisfaction, enabling Hispanic professionals to view work as a way of supporting the family and contributing to the greater good of the groups to which they belong.

Cross-cultural correlates of career and parental role commitment

“…The study addresses a stated need in the management literature to provide a better understanding of work and family role commitment for other than non-Hispanic white professionals (Grzywacz et al, 2007) and the need to understand more about work and family roles of Hispanics (DelCampo et al, 2011). It adds to the small but growing body of literature (e.g.…”

“…On first glance it may seem paradoxical for members of a collectivist culture with family as the center piece to have such a strong career orientation. Upon further reflection, it is actually rather logical (DelCampo et al, 2011). The buffering role of the family collective focus (Spector et al, 2004) provides for career and family roles to be complimentary rather than conflicting, allies rather than enemies (Greenhaus and Powell, 2006).…”

“…For instance, role strain results from Career and parental role commitment having high work salience and high family salience (Niles and Goodnough, 1996), most likely because of incongruent expectations created by these different and often competing roles (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985;Michel and Hargis, 2008). Further, work and family strain have been found to be reciprocally linked with each other, creating a spillover effect (DelCampo et al, 2011;Frone et al, 1997). Therefore, continuing to study what defines commitment to these roles is important to develop programs that help individuals manage this role strain.…”

“…The role of national origin on the work and family relationship has begun to gain some attention (e.g. Grzywacz et al, 2007;Lyness and Kropf, 2005;Spector et al, 2004;Yang et al, 2000), but most of the research uses the lens of the non-Hispanic white experience (DelCampo et al, 2011;Hartung, 2002;Spector et al, 2004;Triandis, 1995) limiting its generalizability. Much work remains to be done before the importance of variables such as country of birth and ethnic culture on the work and family relationship is understood (Aryee et al, 1999;DelCampo et al, 2011;Grzywacz et al, 2002;Lyness and Judiesch, 2008;Powell et al, 2009).…”

“…Understanding the culture-behavior link is limited when researchers do not attend to the configural nature of culture (Tsui et al, 2007). For example, research has consistently shown that non-Hispanic whites and Hispanic groups differ in their focus on work and family role commitment (Albert and Ah Ha, 2004;DelCampo et al, 2011;Hofstede, 1991;Lobel, 1991). However, management literature has given little attention to identifying and examining the psychological dimensions that may help explain such differences (DelCampo et al, 2011).…”