Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Work and family; Work-life balance; Academic theses;

Abstract

Work-family balance is a common term used in organizations with important implications for employees. The purpose of this research was to determine if the antecedent variable family-supportive organizational perceptions were related to four positive outcomes: engagement, intent to quit, physical health, and job tension/strain. More specifically, this research focused on determining whether or not work-family balance was the mediating variable in these four relationships. A 12 item survey was issued to those individuals who met specific inclusion criteria. This criteria stated that respondents had to have at least one dependent child currently living at home as well as work at least 32 hours per week. These respondents were recruited through undergraduate psychology students who received extra credit for their efforts. In total, there were 171 respondents included in the analyses. Six of the 12 measures were included in the data analyses for the purpose of this research. A mediational analysis was used to determine if, in fact, work-family balance mediated the relationships between family-supportive organizational perceptions and the four outcomes. Results of these analyses revealed that family-supportive organizational perceptions predicted three of the four outcomes. In addition, the results supported two of the four hypotheses, specifically that work-family balance mediated the relationship between family-supportive organizational perceptions and intent to quit and job tension/strain. There was a lack of support for the mediation relationship with the two remaining outcomes of physical health and engagement. The principal finding of this research was that family-supportive organizational perceptions predicted job tension/strain, intent to quit, and engagement. Of these three predicted relationships, work-family balance was found to mediate between family-supportive organizational perceptions and both intent to quit and job tension/strain but not engagement. These findings suggest the importance of providing a family-supportive culture within organizations as well as programs that will increase perceptions of work-family balance. The outcomes associated with these two variables may be beneficial to both organizations and employees.

Year of Submission

2011

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Adam Butler

Second Advisor

Michael Gasser

Third Advisor

Brenda Bass

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2011

Object Description

1 PDF file (57 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Included in

Psychology Commons

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