The study of work and family has taken on increasing importance in corporate America. This has been attributed to the growing feminization of the workplace, the increasing numbers of dual-career families, and changing societal values. To date, most of the research concerning work and family issues has been from a conflict perspective. Such research is based on the assumption that work and family are mutually incompatible in some respect. This study broadened the scope of the conventional work/family research program through the use of the larger, more inclusive construct of work/family fit. Data were gathered from 265 respondents in order to develop a measure of work/family fit. The factor analysis of this measure indicated the following four factors: work interfering with family, work benefiting family, family interfering with work, and family benefiting work. While the first and third factors are already present in the work/family literature, the second and fourth factors represent a new addition to the study of the work/family relationship. This measure of work/family fit was then incorporated within an overall model and compared to a traditional model of work/family fit. LISREL results supported the use of the modified work/family model as being more robust and explanatory. Finally, the constructs of work/family fit and work/family conflict were compared concerning the predictive ability of each. Regression analysis indicated that work/family fit was the better predictor of turnover intentions, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and family satisfaction. Study limitations and future research are also discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-1653 |
| Date | 01 January 1998 |
| Creators | Murray, Christine Leiz |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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