Antecedents of perceived work/family conflict: Demographic, objective and individual difference variables

Research to date in the area of perceived work/family conflict has focused on situational or demographic variables and their relationship to the conflict between the two domains. It has been generally accepted that certain situational variables are associated with increased levels of work/family conflict. These variables are: marital status; parental status; dual worker status; single parent status; and gender. The present study investigates those variables and their relationship to felt work/family conflict. In addition, the present study adds the additional independent variables: income level; need for achievement and need for affiliation levels; and objectively measured role demands and resource availability. The need levels were included to offer an explanation for why individuals in comparable situations report differing levels of perceived work/family conflict. The objectively scored variables were incorporated as a means of capturing common factors that were present in the situations where higher levels of perceived work/family conflict were reported. A sample of 286 male and female employed adults was recruited to respond to the questionnaire employed in this study. Data were analyzed through correlation analysis, significance testing and hierarchical multiple regression analysis. The study found that, first, gender differences did not exist in the report of perceived work/family conflict; although men and women invested their time in the two domains in different ways. Secondly, objectively scored role demands were found to be positively related to perceived work/family conflict, while resource availability did not share a significant relationship with the dependent variable. Third, those respondents with high scores on need for achievement and need for affiliation measures reported significantly more work/family conflict than those with low need scores did. Fourth, while objectively scored role demands and need levels captured some of the variance in the dependent variable, several of the situational variables offered additional explained variance. These variables were parental status, dual worker status, and income level. However, the relationship between income level and perceived work/family conflict is opposite of what was hypothesized; the study found a positive relationship between income level and conflict level. Those individuals who earned more reported higher levels of conflict between the two domains than others did. Limitations of the study, theoretical and practical implications, and suggestions for future research are presented.