Relationships of job and family involvement, family social support, and work–family conflict with job and life satisfaction.

TLDR

Occupational stress research indicates reciprocal influences between work and family domains. The study develops and empirically tests a model linking work‑family conflict, social support, and involvement to job and life satisfaction. The model examines bidirectional conflict, family support, and involvement among 163 workers cohabiting with family members to predict job and life satisfaction. Results show that work‑family conflict and support jointly influence job and life satisfaction, with higher work interference reducing family support and greater family support reducing work interference.

Abstract

A model of the relationship between work and family that incorporates variables from both the work-family conflict and social support literatures was developed and empirically tested. This model related bidirectional work-family conflict, family instrumental and emotional social support, and job and family involvement to job and life satisfaction. Data came from 163 workers who were living with at least 1 family member. Results suggested that relationships between work and family can have an important effect on job and life satisfaction and that the level of involvement the worker assigns to work and family roles is associated with this relationship. The results also suggested that the relationship between work and family can be simultaneously characterized by conflict and support. Higher levels of work interfering with family predicted lower levels of family emotional and instrumental support. Higher levels of family emotional and instrumental support were associated with lower levels of family interfering with work. The growing body of occupational stress research regarding the relationship between work and family has suggested that there are interconnecting and possibly reciprocal influences between these two domains (Greenhaus & Parasuraman, 1987; Kanter, 1977; Rice,