Influence Of Work/family Border And Individual Border Preferences On Work/family Relationship

Work and family are the two most important domains of our life. The traditional relationship that work is a mean to a better family life is no longer withheld. Rather, a harmonious relationship between work and family is becoming core issue in both management practice and academic research.Based upon the border theory of work/family proposed by Clark (2000), this study was designed to explore the relationship between work/family border characteristics and work/family conflict. A variable of "border preference" was introduced into our model with the hypothesis that the fitness between border preference and border characteristics, rather than the border characteristics alone, determined the work/family conflict and satisfaction.The study was conducted with the questionnaire survey method. 308 subjects were sampled from 7 cities, namely Hangzhou, Shanghai, Jinan, Beijing, Qingdao, Weihai and Shenzhen.The results indicated that:(l)Work/family border characteristics would influence work/family conflict. The work border permeatibility would significantly increase both work-to-family conflict(WFC) and family-to-work conflict(FWC), while the work border flexibility would significantly decrease work-to-family conflict. The family border permeatibility would significantly increase both FWC and WFC, while the family border flexibility would significantly decrease FWC.(2) Individual border preferences would affect the relationship between work/family border characteristics and. work/family outcomes. The fit between work border permeatibility and the individual work border permeatibility preferences had a significant effect on both WFC and FWC. The fit between work border flexibility and the individual work border flexibility preferences had a significant effect on job satisfaction. The fit between family border permeatibility and the individual family border permeatibility preferences would significantly influence both FWC and job satisfaction. The fit between family border flexibility and the individual family border flexibility preferences would significantly influence both FWC and family satisfaction.(3)Organizational support facilitates work border flexibility, work satisfaction and familysatisfaction, and decreases WFC. Family support facilitates border flexibility, family satisfaction and work satisfaction, and decreases the FWC.(4)FamiIy-to-work conflict could significantly decrease family satisfaction.