AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

Work-family interface in Malaysia : examining its antecedents and outcomes

by Zaiton Hassan




Institution: University of South Australia
Department:
Degree: PhD
Year: 2010
Keywords: Work and family Psychological aspects; Collectivism Social aspects; work family conflict family work conflict Malaysia
Record ID: 1032717
Full text PDF: http://itupl-ura1.ml.unisa.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=unisa46931


Abstract

Currently, the work-family interface literature is mainly based on data from Anglo samples from Western developed countries. Little is known about the work-family interface in Eastern developing countries. This raises the question of whether the Western work-family interface findings can be generalised to other cultures. Therefore this research aims to highlight the work-family interface in Malaysia, a predominantly collectivist society with Islam as the official religion. In this study, work-family interface comprises both negative work-family conflict) and positive (work-family enrichment) aspects and directions (workfamily and family-work) of work-family interaction. Based on the modified integrative model of work-family conflict proposed by Korabik, Lero and Ayman (2003), this study examines antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict and enrichment. Antecedents include demands and resources not only from work and family domains, but also the community domain; and outcomes are comprised of various facets of satisfaction. Underlying these interactions are the socio-cultural orientations namely individualism-collectivism, traditional gender role ideology and time orientation (monochronic and polychronic); and familyfriendly policies offered in the organisations. Data were obtained through two self administered questionnaires at three month intervals, completed by 506 (Time 1) and 296 (Time 2) executives and non-executives, male and female, married and single respondents from three public and three private sector organisations in Sarawak, Malaysia. Both crosssectional and longitudinal data were used in this thesis. Structural Equation Modelling using AMOS 7.0 was performed to test the research hypotheses. It was found that work-family conflict and work-family enrichment were independent constructs that can co-exist simultaneously. Similar to Western findings, antecedents of the work-family interface include work demands, traditional gender role ideology, polychronic time orientation and family friendly policies. The outcomes ??? that is job, family and life satisfaction were negatively related to conflict and positively related to enrichment. Different from Western findings,demands and resources from the community domain contributed more to the work-family interface than did demands and resources from the work and family domains. Aspects of religion, i.e. importance of religion and perception of religiousness, were important in influencing the work-family interface. Community satisfaction was negatively related to conflict and positively related to enrichment. These findings suggest that some aspects of the Western work-family interface can be applied to Malaysia. However, the study also demonstrated that the role of community and religion, which are neglected in Western models, were important in determining the work-family interface in Malaysia. Thus, it may be concluded that in order to have a better understanding of work-family interface in a society which is predominantly collectivist and has strong…