title: Investigating the relative importance of individual differences on the work-family interface and the moderating role of boundary preference for segmentation.
abstract: This study examines the relative importance of individual differences in relation to perceptions of work-family conflict and facilitation, as well as the moderating role of boundary preference for segmentation on these relationships. Relative importance analyses, based on a diverse sample of 380 employees from the USA, revealed that individual differences were consistently predictive of self-reported work-family conflict and facilitation. Conscientiousness, neuroticism, negative affect and core self-evaluations were consistently related to both directions of work-family conflict, whereas agreeableness predicted significant variance in family-to-work conflict only. Positive affect and core self-evaluations were consistently related to both directions of work-family facilitation, whereas agreeableness and neuroticism predicted significant variance in family-to-work facilitation only. Collectively, individual differences explained 25-28% of the variance in work-family conflict (primarily predicted by neuroticism and negative affect) and 11-18% of the variance in work-family facilitation (primarily predicted by positive affect and core self-evaluations). Moderated regression analyses showed that boundary preference for segmentation strengthened many of the relationships between individual differences and work-family conflict and facilitation. Implications for addressing the nature of work and family are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA. jmichel@fiu.edu
authors.forename: Jesse S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Malissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008297:Male; D000075384:Neuroticism; D012044:Regression Analysis; D057566:Self Report; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012917:Social Adjustment; D066107:Social Skills; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D017132:Workplace / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology