| dc.description.abstract | The current trend in the work and family literature is to separate work-family
conflict into two distinct dimensions: work interfering with family and family interfering
with work. Research suggests that employees who have a high level of demands at work
are more likely to experience work-to-family conflict, while employees who have a high
level of personal demands are more likely to experience family-to-work conflict.
Attributing the conflict to the domain with the higher demands oversimplifies a much
more complex interactive process. I hypothesized that work-family conflict results from
the two roles interacting and not from a singular direction or primary force and the
perceived direction of the conflict is determined by a variety of other factors. The
purpose of this study was to examine how role salience, social support, and societal
expectations affect the perceived direction of work-family conflict. Data were collected
from 100 police and fire station employees to examine what variables relate to the
perceived direction of conflict as well as the primary source of conflict: work or family.
Results indicated that time demands play a critical role in the perceived direction and
source of work-family conflict. Specifically, individuals who spent more time with their
family reported the primary source of conflict was their family. Contrary to expectation,
the relationship between time demands and the direction of work-family conflict was not
moderated by role salience, social support, or societal expectations in the predicted
directions. Also contrary to expectation, these variables did not moderate the relationship
between time demands and the source of conflict. Results of the study suggest the
importance of examining both the level and source of work-family conflict. | en |
