Employees (N = 291) of various industries and companies were surveyed to study how individual factors (coping and personality) affect work–family conflict: strain-based work-to-family conflict (S-WFC), time-based work-to-family conflict (T-WFC), strain-based family-to-work conflict (S-FWC), and time-based family-to-work conflict (T-FWC). As expected, passive coping was related to significantly higher levels of S-WFC, S-FWC, and T-FWC. Unexpectedly, active coping was related to higher levels of S-WFC. As hypothesized, social support coping was negatively related to work–family conflict, but only for T-WFC. Venting was positively related to S-WFC. As predicted, neuroticism was positively related to S-WFC, T-WFC, and S-FWC. Passive coping mediated the positive relationship between neuroticism and S-FWC. Neither internal locus of control nor extraversion was related to work–family conflict. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.
AdamsG. A.KingL. A.KingD. W. (1996). Relationships of job and family involvement, family social support, and work-family conflict with job and life satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology,81, 411-420.
2.
AmirkhanJ.RisingerR.SwickertR. (1995). Extraversion: A “hidden” personality factor in coping?Journal of Personality, 63, 189-212.
3.
AndreassiJ. K.ThompsonC. A. (2007). Dispositional and situational sources of control: Relative impact on work-family conflict and positive spillover. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 722-740.
4.
AverillJ. R. (1973). Personal control over aversive stimuli and its relationship to stress. Psychological Bulletin, 80, 286-303.
5.
AycanZ.EskinM. (2005). Relative contributions of childcare, spousal support, and organizational support in reducing work-family conflict for men and women: The case of Turkey. Sex Roles, 53, 453-471.
6.
BaltesB. B.Heydens-GahirH. A. (2003). Reduction of work-family conflict through the use of selection, optimization, and compensation behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1005-1018.
7.
BaronR. M.KennyD. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
8.
BernasK. H.MajorD. A. (2000). Contributors to stress resistance: Testing a model of women’s work-family conflict. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 170-178.
9.
BillingsA. G.MoosR. H. (1984). Coping, stress, and social resources among adults with unipolar depression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 877-891.
10.
BolgerN.ZuckermanA. (1995). A framework for studying personality in the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 890-902.
11.
BondF. W.BunceD. (2003). The role of acceptance and job control in mental health, job satisfaction, and work performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1057-1067.
12.
BrinkB.delaReyC. (2001). Work-family interaction strain: Coping strategies used by successful women in the public, corporate and self-employed sectors of the economy. South African Journal of Psychology, 31, 55-61.
13.
BrookingsJ. B.BoltonB.BrownC. E.McEvoyA. (1985). Self-reported job burnout among female human service professionals. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 6, 143-150.
14.
BrownJ.MulhernG.JosephS. (2002). Incident-related stressors, locus of control, coping, and psychological distress among firefighters in Northern Ireland. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15, 161-168.
15.
BruckC. S.AllenT. (2003). The relationship between the big five personality traits, negative affectivity, type A behavior, and work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 457-472.
16.
CarlsonD. S. (1999). Personality and role variables as predictors of three forms of work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 44, 236-253.
17.
CarlsonD. S.KacmarK. M.WilliamsL. J. (2000). Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 249-276.
18.
CarlsonD. S.PerreweP. L. (1999). The role of social support in the stressor-strain relationship: An examination of work-family conflict. Journal of Management, 25, 513-540.
19.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F.WeintraubJ. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies: A theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 267-283.
20.
CohenS. (1980). After effects of stress on human performance and social behavior: A review of research and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 82-108.
21.
CompasB. E.MalcarneV. L.FondacaroK. M. (1988). Coping with stressful events in older children and young adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 405-411.
22.
CostaP. T.McCraeR. R. (1985). The NEO Personality Inventory Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
23.
CoyneJ.RacioppoM. W. (2000). Never the twain shall meet? Closing the gap between coping research and clinical intervention research. American Psychologist, 55, 655-664.
24.
CunninghamC. J. L.DeLaRosaG. (2008). Proactive personality as a complex moderator in the stress process. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13, 271-282.
25.
EbyL. T.CasperW. J.LockwoodA.BordeauxC.BrinleyA. (2005). Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980-2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 124-197.
26.
FeltonB. J.RevensonT. A.HinrichsenG. A. (1984). Stress and coping in the explanation of psychological adjustment among chronically ill adults. Social Science & Medicine, 18, 889-898.
27.
FolkmanS. (1984). Personal control and stress and coping processes: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 839-852.
28.
FolkmanS. (1997). Positive psychological states and coping with severe stress. Social Science & Medicine, 45, 1207-1221.
29.
FolkmanS. (2009). Commentary on the special section “Theory-based approaches to stress and coping: Questions, answers, issues, and next steps in stress and coping research.”European Psychologist, 1, 72-77.
30.
ForsytheC. J.CompasB. E. (1987). Interaction of cognitive appraisals of stressful events and coping: Testing the goodness of fit hypothesis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 11, 473-485.
31.
FroneM. R.RussellM.CooperM. L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict: Testing a model of the work-family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 65-78.
32.
GoldbergL. R. (1992). The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 4, 26-42.
33.
GreenhausJ. H.BeutellN. J. (1985). Sources of conflict between work and family roles. Academy of Management Review, 10, 76-89.
34.
GrzywaczJ. G.MarksN. F. (2000). Reconceptualizing the work-family interface: An ecological perspective on the correlates of positive and negative spillover between work and family. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 111-126.
35.
IngledewD. K.HardyL.CooperC. L. (1997). Do resources bolster coping and does coping buffer stress? An organizational study with longitudinal aspect and control for negative affectivity. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2, 118-133.
36.
JudgeT. A.ErezA.BonoJ. E.ThoresenC. J. (2002). Are measures of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and generalized self-efficacy indicators of a common core construct?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 693-710.
37.
JudgeT. A.ThoresenJ. T.PucikV.WelbourneT. M. (1999). Managerial coping with organizational change: A dispositional approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 107-122.
38.
KellowayE. K.GottliebB. H.BarhamL. (1999). The source, nature, and direction of work and family conflict: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 4, 337-346.
39.
KirchmeyerC. (1993). Nonwork-to-work spillover: A more balanced view of the experiences and coping of professional women and men. Sex Roles, 28, 531-552.
40.
LamS. S. K.SchaubroeckJ. (2000). The role of locus of control in reactions to being promoted and to being passed. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 66-79.
41.
LapierreL. M.AllenT. D. (2006). Work-supportive family, family-supportive supervision, use of organizational benefits, and problem-focused coping: Implications for work-family conflict and employee well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11, 169-181.
42.
LazarusR.FolkmanS. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer.
43.
LevensonH. (1974). Activism and powerful others: Distinctions within the concept of internal-external control. Journal of Personality Assessment, 38, 377-383.
44.
LoscoccoK. A.SpitzeG. (1990). Working conditions, social support, and the well-being of female and male factory workers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 31, 313-327.
45.
McCraeR. R.CostaP. T. (1986). Personality, coping, and coping effectiveness in an adult sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 385-404.
46.
McCraeR. R.CostaP. T. (1999). A five-factor theory of personality. InL. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 139-153). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
47.
NoorN. M. (2002). Work-family conflict, locus of control, and women’s well-being: Tests of alternative pathways. Journal of Social Psychology, 142, 645-662.
48.
ParkesK. R. (1986). Coping in stressful episodes: The role of individual differences, environmental factors, and situational characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1277-1292.
49.
PenleyJ. A.TomakaJ. (2002). Associations among the Big Five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress. Personality & Individual Differences, 32, 1215-1229.
50.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavioral Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 717-731.
51.
RaskinP. M. (2006). Women, work and family: Three studies of the relationship between working mothers and the workforce. American Behavioral Scientist, 49, 1354-1381.
52.
RothausenT. J. (1999). “Family” in organizational research: A review and comparison of definitions and measures. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20, 817-836.
53.
RotondoD. M.CarlsonD. S.KincaidJ. F. (2003). Coping with multiple dimensions of work-family conflict. Personnel Review, 32, 275-296.
54.
RotterJ. B. (1966). General expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs General and Applied, 80, 1-28.
55.
SiuO.LuL.CooperC. L. (1999). Managerial stress in Hong Kong and Taiwan: A comparative study. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 14, 6-25.
56.
SpectorP. E. (1986). Perceived control by employees: A meta-analysis of studies concerning autonomy and participation at work. Human Relations, 39, 1005-1016.
57.
StoevaA. Z.ChiuE.GreenhausJ. H. (2002). Negative affectivity, role stress, and work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 1-16.
58.
SzilagyiA. D.SimsH. P.KellerR. T. (1976). Role dynamics, locus of control, and employee attitudes and behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 19, 259-277.
59.
ThompsonC. A.PoelmansS.AllenT. A.AndreassiJ. K. (2007). On the importance of coping: A model and new directions for research on work and family. In PerreweP. L.GansterD. C. (Eds.), Research in occupational stressand well-being (pp. 73-113). Bingley, England: Emerald Insight.
60.
VitalianoP. P.DeWolfeD. J.MaiuroR. D.RussoJ.KatonW. (1990). Appraised changeability of a stressor as a modifier of the relationship between coping and depression: A test of the hypothesis of fit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 582-592.
61.
WatsonD.HubbardB. (1996). Adaptational style and dispositional structure: Coping in the context of the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 64, 737-774.
62.
WayneJ. H.MusiscaN.FleesonW. (2004). Considering the role of personality in the work-family experience: Relationships of the big five to work-family conflict and facilitation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64, 108-130.
63.
ZeidnerM.SaklofskeD. (1996). Adaptive and maladaptive coping. In ZeidnerM.EndlerN. S. (Eds.), Handbook of coping (pp. 505-531). New York, NY: Wiley.
