Work Family Conflict
Work Family Conflict
Work Family Conflict
Work-family conflict has been considered a key indicator of workers and their
family’s quality of life (Galinsky, Bond, & Friedman, 1993). In a study by Kopelman,
Greenhaus and Connolly (as cited in Virick, Lilly, & Casper, 2007), they found that work-
family conflict mediated the relationships between work conflict and life satisfaction -
higher work conflict led to higher work-family conflict, which was thus related to lower life
satisfaction. For the purpose of this study, the definition of work-family conflict offered in
a study by Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, Snoek, & Rosenthal (1964) is employed: a form of interrole
conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually
incompatible in some respect (as cited in Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). This translates as
participation in work life being made more difficult as a result of participation in family
An abundance of studies have been conducted on the matter of defining the sources
of WLC, as concisely reported in Greenhaus and Beutell (1985), with results showing a
positive relation between work-family conflict and number of hours worked per week
(Burke, Weir, & Duwors, 1980), inflexibility of the work schedule (Pleck, Staines, & Lang,
1980), and family role fulfillment requiring a person to spend a lot of time in family
activities (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985) to name a few. Greenhaus and Beutell’s study
In a more recent study by Kossek and Lee (2017), the blurring of boundaries and
the pace of daily life brought about by the spread of technology has increased the
communication devices that keep individuals in constant contact with concerns from both
family and work around the clock (Kossek, 2016 in Kossek & Lee, 2017). In the status quo,
this regularity of one’s accessibility by family, brought about by the current stay-at-home
situation, and the workplace, as online connectivity becomes a necessity in the completion
of one’s duties and responsibilities to their respective companies, the desired differentiation
family conflict, we see that the level of intersection between work and family can positively
(or negatively) affect either institution. Both work and family demand significant amounts
of time from one individual and as the resource of time is allocated throughout the day,
certain psychological boundaries exist that separate the two. These boundaries compose
WLB, as seen to have a direct impact on many aspects of a worker’s life, both in the work
In a similar vein, WLB reflects “the extent to which an individual is equally engaged
in – and equally satisfied with – his or her work role and family role” (Greenhaus et al.,
2003, p. 513 in Virick, Lilly, & Casper, 2007). Just as a disruption, or imbalance, of the
psychological boundaries set between work and life or work and family can negatively
impact one’s performance, the level to which an individual can exercise control to maintain
these boundaries also plays a hand in positively affecting one’s performance in either
First is the problem of allocation of time, of which only finite and fixed divisions are
possible (Jacobs & Gerson, 2001; Thompson & Bunderson, 2001). Linked to this is
the nature of work and in particular the autonomy presented to workers to schedule
their work and out of work commitments (Lambert, 1990, p. 240). Third are the
physical and psychical demands placed on employees and the extent to which these
are able to exert any meaningful control over work-domestic demands (Hyman,
2004).
traditional working professionals may impact results from the second factor, which is the
nature of their work and the autonomy they are afforded outside of work, but otherwise,
all factors are still considered relevant and serve as guides in the data interpretation of this
study.
Coping Strategies
For the purpose of clearly defining this concept, the researcher has chosen Zheng et
al.’s (2015) definition of ‘coping’: an individual’s ability to deal with stress and anxiety
derived from accommodating family and organisational situations, and is considered as the
variable that, if exercised effectively, can determine the degree of positive physiological
Hence, coping strategies are the actions taken in response to the stress and anxiety
Coping strategies of digital workers. In the results of her study in search for effective
coping strategies, Haddon (n.d.) validated the importance of employees finding a ‘fit’
between workplace policies and practices, and their preferred boundary management
strategy. These strategies come in two forms: segmentation, or the separation of work and
non-work times and activities, and integration, of the overlap of both roles. On the other
hand, the results echo support for technology as a means of increasing people’s autonomy
and work functioning and enables the successful integration of multiple life roles (Jackson,
Taking both these results into account, it seems as though online Filipino workers
have the best of both worlds - occupations with the promise of ‘working at your own time’
and the convenience of never having to leave home and commute to and from work.
what may be a coping strategy for one industry, may contribute to the experience of work-
From this premise, it is thus argued that organizations play a central role in
providing quality jobs that will raise not only the standard of material life of the employees
and their family, but also the intrinsic rewards and psychological well-being of the
It can be conferred that this role only comes up to a certain extent in the individual
worker’s experience of work-life balance. The family and/or life roles assumed outside of
work share part of the burden of stress from maintaining psychological boundaries
cognitive, physical and relational techniques to enable WLB (as cited in Zheng et al., 2015).
Taking upon these lenses, it is hypothesized that the several different techniques described
in this study, as employed by OFW 2.0, may be specific to their circumstances brought