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A Study on the Causes and Consequences of Work-Family Conflict among Married Employees

Lim, Hyochang · Lee, Bongse · Park, Gyeonggyu

Published: January 2005 · Vol. 34 No. 5 · pp. 1417-1443
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Abstract

Work and family are two critically important domains for individuals. Traditionally, gender roles were clearly delineated, and there was little potential for conflict between these two domains. However, as married women's participation in economic activities has increased and married men's roles in the household have expanded, the work and family domains have become increasingly difficult to separate, and researchers have turned their primary attention to work-family conflict among married employees. Work-family conflict represents a form of inter-role conflict in which the demands of work and family roles are mutually incompatible, and prior studies have demonstrated that work-family conflict is closely related to job attitudes and job performance. However, previous research has not sufficiently examined gender differences in the antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict, necessitating further investigation. Additionally, drawing on prior research, it is worth noting that a spouse's employment status may moderate the effects of work-family conflict. This is because the increasing economic activity of married women, combined with the expanding household roles of married men, leads to greater role ambiguity. The present study aims to examine the moderating effects of gender and spouse's employment status on the relationship between antecedents of work-family conflict and work-family conflict itself. The causes of work-family conflict can be classified into three categories: time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, and behavior-based conflict. Time-based conflict is induced by the time required to fulfill roles in both work and family domains; strain-based conflict occurs when stress and strain generated at work interfere with the fulfillment of family roles; and behavior-based conflict arises from behavioral incompatibilities between work and family domains. The researchers in this study focused on time-based and strain-based conflict. While employees desire to spend their personal time with family, working hours in Korean firms remain among the highest of all OECD countries. Consequently, conflict between work and family can be very high, which may negatively affect employees' job attitudes. Moreover, recent ongoing corporate restructuring has induced changes in employment structures and job functions. As non-regular employment and job insecurity increase, employees' role conflict intensifies. Therefore, this study seeks to determine whether overtime work and employment insecurity are antecedents of work-family conflict and how they should be managed. Based on work-family conflict theory, this study presents an empirical model encompassing overtime work, employment insecurity, work-family conflict, job attitudes, and the moderating variables of gender and spouse's employment status. The research objectives are: (1) to examine the relationships among overtime work, employment insecurity, and work-family conflict; (2) to test the moderating effects of individual characteristics, namely gender and spouse's employment status, on these relationships; and (3) to investigate how work-family conflict affects employees' job attitudes. To test these hypotheses, survey data were collected from 449 married employees (59.5% male, 40.5% female), and multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were conducted. The results are as follows.
Keywords: 고용불안정성기혼직장인배우자의 취업이직의도직무만족직장-가정 갈등초과근무시간