Research On The Effect Of Job Demands On Unethical Pro-family Behavior

The two basic spheres of people’s daily lives include the work sphere and the family sphere,in which people often play two distinct roles depending on their individual needs at different levels.In the work sphere,people can satisfy their material,interpersonal and achievement needs by giving their time and energy and other resources,while in the family sphere they can satisfy their basic physical,security and emotional support needs.As economic growth begins to slow down,while industrial structure changes continue to accelerate and competition among enterprises intensifies,many companies continue to increase the working hours and workload of their employees,which results in employees investing less time and energy in their family life,making them unable to take care of their families effectively,leading to guilt towards their families,which will trigger unethical pro-family behavior.Unethical pro-family behavior is a kind of non-ethical behavior harmful to the organization.However,unethical pro-family behavior is a newly proposed concept,and the research on the antecedents of unethical pro-family behavior and its influencing mechanism is very limited.Therefore,by investigating the mechanism of unethical pro-family behavior,this paper tries to put forward corresponding management suggestions to curb the occurrence of unethical pro-family behavior of employees.Resource conservation theory provides a theoretical basis for understanding how employees allocate limited resources to their work roles,which in turn results in them having few available resources to allocate to other roles(e.g.,family roles).Thus,resource conservation theory is a research and analytical perspective that researchers have often used in previous studies on work-family conflict.Many studies have shown that work demands and work overload trigger work-family conflict and guilt,and ultimately produce negative spillover effects that are detrimental to family functioning.In addition,resource conservation theory states that stressful work situations are relieved when employees have sufficient resources to cope with work-related stress.Excessive work demands not only deplete employees’ physical resources,but also their psychological resources in terms of emotions,etc.,resulting in a corresponding decrease in resources(e.g.,time,energy,etc.)for their family roles,and the personality trait of conscientiousness as a resource that can alleviate stressful work situations.Therefore,the present study introduced the personality trait of conscientiousness to explore the moderating role of conscientiousness in the relationship between work demands and work-family guilt.In summary,based on conservation of resources theory,this paper explores the mechanism of the influence of job demands on unethical pro-family behavior and the mediating role of work-family guilt in the relationship between the two.In addition,this paper explores the negative moderating role of consciousness in the relationship between job requirements and work-family guilt.To verify the relationship between the above variables,the data were collected through an online questionnaire,and 228 valid questionnaires were finally returned.The research hypotheses were tested through statistical software such as SPSS26.0 and AMOS24.0,using a combination of reliability analysis,regression analysis and other analytical methods.The results of the study indicated that(1)job demands positively influenced unethical pro-family behavior;(2)job demands positively influenced work-family;(3)job-family guilt positively influenced unethical pro-family behavior;(4)work-family mediated the relationship between job requirements and unethical pro-family behavior;(5)consciousness negatively moderated the relationship between job demands and work-family relationship,i.e.,the stronger the consciousness,the weaker the effect of job demands on work-family guilt;and(6)consciousness negatively moderates the indirect effect of job demands on unethical pro-family behavior through work-family guilt,i.e.,the stronger the consciousness,the weaker the indirect effect of work-family guilt.The results obtained from this study help to understand the mechanism of work demands on unethical pro-family behavior,fill the gap in theoretical research on pro-family immoral behavior,and bring some insights in practice for preventing and curbing unethical pro-family behavior and its potential negative effects.