A Cross-Cultural Study Of Chinese And American Work/Family Role Values And Work-Family Conflict

An increasing interest in Work-Family Conflict (WFC) has been aroused among Western scholars due to the fast development of technology, women's involvement in work and, most importantly, a trend of globalization. Previous researches, however, have nearly been done within the Anglo countries (e.g. Canada, the US and U.K.) and few emic studies have been conducted in mainland China. In cross-cultural studies, cultures and values are always regarded as moderators to explain varieties of results. For this reason, the current study is focusing on the moderating effects for both Americans and Chinese in the work-family conflict issues and in an attempt to find out the convergence and divergence of WFC that people from both cultures may encounter.By translating and revising the existing Work/Family Role Value scale, Work-Family Conflict scale and Job Satisfaction scale, the author designed and did a survey among employees in multinational enterprises and organizations in both countries. Results show that correlations between work-family conflict and work/family demands, work-family conflict and job/family satisfaction are consistent with the previous findings; under the framework of Individualism/Collectivism, Americans are proved to be more inclined to experience WFC and FWC than the Chinese, which support the author's hypothesis. The comparative study of role values and Work-Family Conflict between the two cultural groups also indicates that Americans tend to separate work from family life but the Chinese prefer to mix them up. More convergence and divergence between American and Chinese samples were analyzed by taking into account the cultural moderating elements such as family roles and work values. In the last chapter the thesis discusses the implications for future studies and proposes suggestions on balancing work-family relations, self-moderating strategies and family-friendly policies for Chinese companies.