Investigating the Relationship of Work-Family Conflicts Through the Self-Determination Theory Abstract: Interpersonal climates influence motivation of both family and work-related activities in the family and the workplace. Within the family, the feeling of being valued by one's partner directly affects a person¡¦s self-determination, while at the same time within the workplace, the feeling of being autonomy-supported by one's employer will affect one¡¦s self-determined motivation towards work related activities. If people had a high level of self-determination, they would be able to decide for themselves which activities to devote themselves to and would do so in high spirits, thus making it difficult for family alienation to occur. Nevertheless, once the phenomenon of family alienation occurs, one is no longer able to obtain family support and approval, thus is stripped of self-merit. Moreover, this phenomenon will also produce feelings of loneliness, frustration, which in turn influences the experience of work-family conflict. Ultimately in the end, work-family conflict leads to job burnout. This research uses Kaohsiung high school teachers as the subject of study, focusing primarily on how personal relationships affect self-determined motivation within the family and the workplace. Moreover, low levels of self-determined motivation in both the family and the work place leads to family alienation. Furthermore in discussing the relations among family alienation, work-family conflicts, job burnout, the factors of gender, age, position and the nature of the school were used to investigate and analyze the effects of interference of feeling valued by one's partner, feeling of being autonomy-supported by one's employer, motivation towards family activities, motivation towards work, family alienation, work-family conflicts, and job burnout. This research uses the method of survey questionnaire, and is analyzed with various methods of statistical analysis. The important discoveries are stated as follows: A. It was found that Kaohsiung teachers who had a strong feeling of being valued by one's partner within the family environment, also had a high level of self-determined motivation and therefore lessened the occurrence of family alienation. B. It was found that Kaohsiung teachers who did not have a strong feeling of being autonomy-supported by one's employer within the workplace but had adequate acceptance, possessed a lower self-determined motivation and less motivation towards work; Thereby making it easier for family alienation to occur. C. Taking care of children was the main factor leading to work-family conflict for Kaohsiung teachers¡¦. D. Family-work interference was the main factor leading to job burnout for Kaohsiung teachers. E. It was found that family alienation produces work-family conflicts and thus ultimately leading to job burnout. F. The interference effect of gender. 1. The interaction of motivation towards work activities and gender has an interference effect on family alienation. 2. The interaction of self-determined motivation towards work and gender has an interference effect on family alienation, work-family conflicts, and job burnout. G. The interference effect of occupational position 1. The interaction of Motivation towards family activities and occupational position has an interference effect on family alienation. 2. The interaction of self-determined motivation towards family and occupational position has an interference effect on family alienation, work-family conflicts, and job burnout. H. The interference effect of age 1. The interaction of motivation towards family activities and age has an interference effect on family alienation. 2. The interaction of self-determined motivation towards work and age has an interference effect on job burnout. I. It was found that effects of cultural difference between western and eastern culture created different methods for solving work-family conflicts. J. It was found that differing results produced from eastern and western cultural caused variations towards gender. Keyword: self-determined motivation, family alienation, work-family conflict, job burnout

Throughout the last three decades, the Arab region has attracted the unwanted attention of the rest of the world because of its spiralling political upheaval. This unrest has caused migration, economic and cultural changes, and eventually a spring of revolutions and protests in demand of reform. Arab countries are now in the spotlight of global current affairs, and all the imperfections regarding their cultural, social, and gender inequalities have surfaced to the foreground. Arab women novelists have been addressing feminist issues for centuries, chipping away at the stereotypical image of the meek and voiceless Arab woman that comes hand in hand with Orientalism. Through their fiction, writers such as Nawal El Saadawi, Hanan Al- Shaykh and Fadia Faqir have promulgated a bold brand of Arab feminist thought. This interdisciplinary thesis explores the Greater Syrian and Egyptian woman's novel written between 1975 and 2007. Through the in-depth analysis of Arab women's novels available in English, I attempt to uncover the many reasons behind today's gender inequality in Greater Syria and Egypt. By examining contemporary Arabic narrative styles and cultivating traditional Arab story-telling methods, the creative element of this thesis uses fiction to expose social and political injustice. The novel within this thesis challenges different forms of patriarchy that are dominant in the region, and endeavours to document a historical, on-going revolution.