Faculty Publications

Work And Nonwork Engagements Between Life Domains: Effects On Subjective Health And Life Satisfaction Of Employees Across 53 Nations Varying In Economic Competitiveness

Document Type

Article

Keywords

employee motivation, role balance theory, work and nonwork balance, Work and nonwork engagement

Journal/Book/Conference Title

International Journal of Cross Cultural Management

Volume

21

Issue

2

First Page

331

Last Page

352

Abstract

Using the framework of role balance theory, the authors take a cross-national view of an employee’s engagement in the work and nonwork domains of life. Employing the World Values Survey (WVS) with a sample of 21,270 married employees from 53 nations, we find cross-national variations in the relationship of employees’ degree of work and nonwork domain engagements with their subjective health and satisfaction with life. To explore the impact of the national focus on motivation for economic productivity and innovation, we used a country’s global competitiveness index (GCI), predicting that a nation’s GCI would moderate the relationship of an employee’s work and nonwork domain engagements with both subjective health and life satisfaction. Overall, the results suggest that work–nonwork balance leads to better subjective health and higher life satisfaction only for married employees living in nations high in GCI; for married employees living in countries low in GCI, higher subjective health and life satisfaction resulted for those more highly engaged in nonwork life domains. Theoretical and methodological contributions are discussed, along with implications for future research on national culture concerning work and its impact on employed persons.

Department

Department of Management

Original Publication Date

8-1-2021

DOI of published version

10.1177/14705958211034052

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

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