Dispositional Predictors of Work/Family Interface Among Working Women

The current research was carried out to identify dispositional predictors of work/family conflict and enrichment faced by working women. Purposive sampling strategy was used to collect a sample of 265 working women, out of which 129 were married and 136 were unmarried, aged between 22 to 54 years (M = 29.31, SD = 6.39). Data was collected via Big Five Inventory (BFI), Work/Family Conflict Self-Efficacy Scale, Work/Family conflict Scale and Work/Family Enrichment scale. Data was analyzed using correlation, MANOVA and multiple regression analysis. Results revealed that married women with children experienced higher levels of work/family conflict than unmarried working women and married women having one or no children. Moreover, women living in nuclear family system had higher levels of work to family conflict and women living in joint family system had higher levels of family to work conflict. Regression analysis showed conscientiousness, neuroticism and work/family conflict self-efficacy as salient predictors of work/family conflict and extraversion, agreeableness and work/family conflict self-efficacy to be significant predictors of work/family enrichment. These results have important implications for individuals as well as organizations as they demonstrate that dispositional factors do play a major role in determining the levels of work/family conflict and enrichment and will help in identifying women who are more or less prone to experiencing the negative side of work/family interface so that additional support may be provided to them in terms of family friendly workplace policy, social support, and employee counseling, etc. The current research was carried out to explore the how the two most important domains of a women's life, that is, work and family interact and influence each other and to identify individuals who might be more prone to experiencing the negative impact of work/family interface. A sample of 265 working women from diverse professions was selected and information was collected via questionnaires such as big five personality inventory, work/family enrichment scale, work/family self conflict scale and work/family conflict self-efficacy scale. Results show that there is higher incidence of work/family conflict among working women as compared to work/family enrichment. Moreover, having more children and living in extended family system make one more susceptible toward experiencing the negative side of the work/family interface. Additionally, results show that personality can play a role in increasing or decreasing the levels of work/family conflict and/or enrichment. These results have important implications for individuals as well as organizations as they demonstrate that dispositional factors do play a major role in determining the levels of work/family conflict and enrichment and will help in identifying women who are more or less prone to experiencing the negative side of work/family interface so that additional support may be provided to them in terms of family friendly workplace policy, enhancing self-efficacy, providing social support, and employee counseling, etc.