The interactive effects of role overload and resilience on family-work enrichment and associated outcomes

Abstract

Using an interactionist perspective and conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examined the interactive effects of resilience and role overload on family-work enrichment and the outcomes of surface acting, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. The model was tested using a sample of 156 full time employees who completed surveys at two time periods. As expected, resilience was positively related to family-work enrichment and family-work enrichment was negatively related to surface acting and emotional exhaustion and positively related to job satisfaction demonstrating mediating effects for family-work enrichment. Role overload moderated the positive relationship between resilience and family-work enrichment such that the relationship was weaker when role overload was high indicating a boundary condition for the favorable effects of resilience. Finally, support was found for the conditional indirect effects of resilience on surface acting, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction through family-work enrichment such that the relationships were weaker when role overload was high.