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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 ISSN: 1083-4346
Work-family Conflict, Demographic
Characteristics and Job Satisfaction among
Ghanaian Corporate Leaders
Kwasi Dartey-Baah
Department of Organisation and Human Resource Management
University of Ghana Business School
P.O. Box LG 78, Legon, Accra – Ghana, West Africa
kdartey-baah@ug.edu.gh
ABSTRACT
This study examines the relationship between the construct of work-family conflicts
(WFC) and job satisfaction as well as the differences between the demographic
characteristics and WFC with reference to the leadership of Ghanaian businesses. 100
Ghanaian corporate leaders from business organizations in the Accra Metropolis
participated in a comprehensive cross-sectional survey which considered multiple
scales across WFC domains. Pearson correlation coefficient, Independent sample t-test
and One-way ANOVA were used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that work-
to-family and family-to-work conflict has a negative effect on managers’ job
satisfaction and age was seen to have positive relationship with conflicts emanating
from work-to-family.
JEL Classification: M12
Keywords: work-to-family conflict; family-to-work conflict; job satisfaction;
corporate leaders; Ghana
292 Dartey-Baah
I. INTRODUCTION
Changes in the workplace and demography of employees have made studying the
relationship between work and family more important in recent years. Studies on work-
family conflict (WFC) have been increasing of late and not surprisingly, have become a
major area in organizational research (Parasuraman and Greenhaus, 2002). This is
because balancing work and family responsibilities has become a challenge for many
employees (Moreno-Jiménez et al., 2009). These challenges transcend the boundaries
of a single arena and usually have adverse effect on employee’s health and
psychological well-being (Kinnunen et al., 2006; Noor, 2002). In addition, work-family
conflict is an important area for practitioners because it has been empirically related to
negative work attitudes (Frone et al., 1992a; Parasuraman et al., 1996; Yang et al.,
2000), absenteeism (Goff et al., 1990), tardiness (Hepburn and Barling, 1996), leaving
work early (Boyar et al., 2005), turnover intentions (Burke, 1988), and other negative
work behaviors (Frone et al., 1996). It is, therefore, imperative that industry and
academia take keen interest in this emerging labor challenge whose dynamics are subtly
becoming complicated.
Two separate forms of work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work
conflict (FWC) have been shown to negatively impact organizational, family, and
personal outcomes. Work-to-family conflict (WFC) could be observed as the
unfavourable impact of work demands on the fulfilment of family responsibilities
whereas family-to-work conflict (FWC) is the negative effect of family responsibilities
on performance in the work place (Hoang, 2009). This phenomenon results when the
expectations and time constraints associated with the professional and personal lives of
workers are not compatible, making it difficult to manage both. For many, time is
viewed as a limited resource; thus, the more time and energy an individual invests in
one role, the less available to spend in the other, resulting in conflicts. This is the
situation of many Ghanaian business leaders who strive to simultaneously perform two
demanding roles. One role frequently involves a sole or shared responsibility for
managing a family whereas the other involves successful performance of leadership
tasks on the job. Both roles usually require substantial time and the use of an
individual’s physical and mental resource and if not well handled may result in conflict
which in turn may impair the performance of both roles.
The relationship between work-family conflicts and job satisfaction has been
explored extensively in studies. Most studies have reported negative relationship
between these two constructs (Anderson et al., 2002; Boles and Babin, 1996; Frye and
Breaugh, 2004). However, very little research, if any at all, has been done in Ghana
concerning this subject with specific reference to the business leaders. As a result, the
first objective of this study is to determine if work-to-family conflicts and family-to-
work conflicts experienced by Ghanaian business leaders result in a negative
relationship with their perception of job satisfaction.
Previous studies have successfully demonstrated that some variables are related
to both WFC and FWC differently. For instance, Netemeyer, Boles, and McMurrian
(1996), Parasuraman et al. (1996), Frone et al. (1997b), and Kinnunen and Mauno
(1998) have reported the following variables age, family support and number of
children as having a relationship with WFC and FWC. On the other hand, very few
studies have also established that there exist differences among gender with respect to
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 293
work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. For instance, it has been reported
that though both sexes may experience work-family conflicts, females tend to be more
conflict-prone than their male counterparts due to the former spending more combined
time on work and family activities than the latter (Frone et al., 1992a; Hammer et al.,
1997; Lundberg et al., 1994). Thus, the second objective of this study would be to
establish the differences, if any, between each of the demographic factors and the
variables WFC and FWC with specific emphasis on the Ghanaian corporate leaders.
As noted above, extensive research has been conducted to measure the
relationship between work-family conflict and job satisfaction as well as other variables
such as managerial efficiency and productivity. However, it is worth noting that all the
studies conducted are in isolation and in different settings other than Ghana; and beside
Aminah’s (2007) study on “Job, family and individual factors as predictors of work-
family conflict” in Malaysia, none of the studies conducted so far have focused on the
relative influence of demographic factors such as (age, educational background and
managerial level) on work-family conflict with specific reference to corporate leaders.
This study, therefore, seeks to fill these identified gaps that exist in the literature.
Against this background, the study is designed to examine the relationship between
work-family conflict and job satisfaction as well as the differences in work-family
conflict using the demographic factors of respondents.
II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND MODEL
The effect of globalization and increased development has its attendant problems.
Increasingly, parents, both male and female are assuming dual responsibilities among
others and these responsibilities are driven by the desire to achieve success in the
corporate world while maintaining a balanced family life. However, these two roles
appear equally demanding and can be at conflict with each other. This dual
responsibility imposed by both work and family life is termed as “sweeping changes”
(Allen, 2001). In response to this, organizations have put in place measures such as
leaves and flexible working hours among others to mitigate the adverse impact of work-
to-family conflicts and family-to-work conflicts on their employees. However, it
appears these measures have not yet provided the needed solutions (Allen, 2001).
The concept of work-family conflict has been explained by Kahn et al. (1964)
and Pleck (1977) using the role theory framework. They proposed that the major
determinant of an individual’s behavior is the expectation of behavior that others have
for him or her. The role theory predicts that the expectations surrounding each of these
different roles a person performs can degenerate into inter-role conflict when they
involve pressure on the individual to satisfy all expectations of work and family roles
since each role requires time, energy and commitment. Using this framework, Kahn et
al. (1964) defined work-family conflict as a form of inter-role conflict in which the role
pressures from work and family spheres are mutually incompatible. Such
incompatibility is indicated by the fact that participation in the work role is made more
difficult by virtue of participation in the family role and vice versa.
One of the dominant models through which work-family conflict is viewed is the
integrative model (Frone et al., 1997a). This model brings out a comprehensive outlook
of conflict in terms of varying outcomes. However, in recent times, work-family
conflict has been examined from a systems perspective demonstrating that one member
294 Dartey-Baah
of a couple's experience of work-family conflict can significantly impact their partner's
experience of work-family conflict (Hammer et al., as cited in Boyar et al., 2007).
These work and family “crossover effects” of stress and strain from one member of a
couple to the other have been recently presented in a theoretical model by Westman
(2001, 2002). Thus, in crossover, stress experienced in the workplace by an individual
may lead to stress being experienced by the individual’s partner at home. Whereas
spillover is an intraindividual transmission of stress or strain, crossover is a dyadic,
interindividual transmission of stress or strain. In addition, Ling and Powell’s (2001)
framework on work-family conflict posit that attempts to adequately fulfill both work
and family role demands require sufficient amount of time and energy, which may be
scarce. Thus, simultaneous work and family role demands could lead to work and
family stressors, which consecutively act as antecedents of work-family conflict.
Stressors in work domain lead to work-to-family conflict, and stressors in family
domain lead to family-to-work conflict. The former occurs when work activities hinder
performance of family responsibilities and the latter when family responsibilities
negatively affect performance in work place. Work-family conflict in turn negatively
influences job satisfaction and the psychological well-being of workers.
Recognizing the bi-directional nature of the interrole construct, two distinct
types of conflict, namely, work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict are
included in a framework developed for the study as shown in Figure I. The model is
developed based on the role theory framework (Kahn et al., 1964; Pleck, 1977), the
systems approach of Hammer et al. (2009) and Westman (2001, 2002) and the
framework of Ling and Powell (2001) as well as other researches and scholarly works
discussed under the literature review segment of this study.
As indicated in Figure I, WFC and FWC are correlated both with work role
demands and family role demands respectively. And the model shows that these
conflicts have negative impact on the job satisfaction of the Ghanaian corporate leader.
The components of work role demands consist of commitment, productivity,
responsibility and reliability whereas that of family role demands encompasses
responsibility for children, spouse support, household responsibilities and earning
money.
Again, the model looks at the extent to which the demographic characteristics of
respondents influence the bi-directional construct from the angle of WFC and FWC.
Finally, the direct relationship between WFC and FWC vice versa is also examined. In
brief, work and family role demands as well as demographic characteristics of
respondents are taken into consideration in this proposed work-family conflict model.
III. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Work-Family Conflict
According to Stoner, Hartman, and Arora (1990), work-family conflict is defined as “a
form of inter-role conflict arising because pressures emanating from one role are
incompatible with those from another role.” Adams, King, and King (1996) also stated
that work-family conflict arises when demands of one domain (e.g., work) are
incompatible with demands of the other domain (e.g., family), and this conflict can
affect the quality of both work and family life. Again, O’Neil and Greenberger (1994)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 295
Figure 1
Proposed WFC model
demonstrated that individuals who combine work and family roles often feel a high
degree of commitment to both roles and, perhaps as a result of this high commitment,
may also experience a high degree of work-family conflict. This is because
responsibilities at work and in the family are obviously important to most individuals;
however, when taken together, these responsibilities often result in conflicting demands
(Boles et al., 1997).
The definition implies that work-family conflict is a complex, bi-directional
construct. Conflict may arise from either domain: work-to-family conflict [WFC] or
family-to-work conflict [FWC] (Stoeva, Chiu, and Greenhaus, 2002). Work-to-family
conflict occurs when managers bring problems and stress from work to their homes that
negatively influence the quality of their family life. Family-to-work conflict, on the
other hand, occurs when family responsibilities interfere with an individual’s work-
related duties. The descriptions of work-family conflict all focus on the conflict of high
demanding dual roles on the bearing subject. In other words, the nature of work family
conflict is role conflict. According to Greenhaus, Parasuraman, and Collins (2001) there
are two types of work-family conflict: time-based and strain-based. Time-based conflict
Role Demand
in Work
Role Demand
in Family
Stressors in
Work Domain
Stressors in
Family Domain
Demographics
Age
Gender
Educational level
Managerial level
Work-to-family
conflict
Job Satisfaction of
Corporate Leader
Family-to-work
conflict
Demographics
Age
Gender
Educational level
Managerial level
296 Dartey-Baah
arises when time spent on one role (work or family) are obstacles to the completion of
responsibility of the other role. Strain-based conflict arises when the strain produced in
one role spills over into the other role (Ling and Powell, 2001).
Most psychosocial researchers studying WFC attempt to establish the impact of
this bi-directional concept on some aspects of employee behavior or organizational
performance. There is a wide agreement among the extant scholarly literature on WFC
and FWC that the two constructs although strongly correlated with one another, are
conceptually and empirically distinct constructs (Duxbury et al., 1994; Frone et al.,
1992a). While the best predictors of WFC conflict are work-related variables, the
antecedents of FWC conflict are mainly family-related variables (Kinnunen and
Mauno, 1998). Studying the effect of WFC and FWC on some psychosocial variants of
employees, (Moreno-Jiménez et al., 2009) mentioned that both types of stress are
associated with health problems such as psychological strain (Kinnunen et al., 2006;
Noor, 2002), depression and anxiety (Lapierrre and Allen, 2006) or lower sleep quality
(Williams et al., 2006). Thus, deducing from the review so far, this study primarily
focuses on the impact of both WFC and FWC on the perception of Ghanaian corporate
leaders’ job satisfaction.
B. Effect of Work-Family Conflict on Job Satisfaction
Various researchers have defined the job satisfaction construct differently. The term
was brought to limelight by Hoppock (1935) who reviewed 32 studies on job
satisfaction conducted prior to 1933 and observed that job satisfaction is a combination
of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances that cause a person to
say, “I am satisfied with my job”. Such a description indicates the variety of variables
that influence job satisfaction but tell us nothing about its nature. Locke and Lathan
(1976) give a comprehensive definition of job satisfaction as pleasurable or positive
emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience. Job
satisfaction is a result of employee's perception of how well their job provides those
things that are viewed as important. According to Mitchell and Lasan (1987), it is
generally recognized in the organizational behavior field that job satisfaction is the
most important and frequently studied attitude. Thus, job satisfaction as an outcome
variable of work-family conflict is defined as the emotional response to a job situation
which cannot be seen but rather can only be inferred (Luthan, 1998). This definition
suggests job satisfaction is a global affective reaction that individuals hold about their
jobs. Studies have found that individuals who experience work-family conflict are
generally unsatisfied with their jobs. There exists a priori evidence that WFC or FWC is
negatively related to job satisfaction in various domains. Moreover, research has
indicated that work-family conflicts are associated with diminished satisfactions and
lower levels of psychological well-being (Frye and Breaugh, 2004; Anderson et al.,
2002; Carlson and Perrewe, 1999; Kinnunen and Mauno, 1998; Kossek and Ozeki,
1998; Boles and Babin, 1996; Thomas and Ganster, 1995; Hughes and Galinsky, 1994
Frone et al., 1992b). Netemeyer et al. (1996) reported that work-family conflict relates
to work-related outcomes such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and
turnover intention.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 297
Furthermore, literature reveals that the negative effect of work-family conflict on
work attitude may be moderated by several variables (Martins et al., 2002). In these
studies, emotional intelligence is expected to moderate the relationship between work-
family conflict and job satisfaction, and the relationship between work-family conflict
and career commitment. George (2000) and Tsui et al. (1992) posit that family
interference with work may have some negative consequences on the extent to which
employees will be satisfied with their jobs and committed to their career aspirations.
However, Aryee et al. (1999), and Lyness and Thompson (1997) do not report the same
findings. On the basis of this logic, conflict and job satisfaction are expected to exhibit
a strong correlation. This study, therefore, seeks to investigate this correlation in the
context of the Ghanaian corporate leadership.
C. Demographic Characteristics and Work-Family Conflict
Researchers have successfully demonstrated that some antecedents are related to both
WFC and FWC [e.g. age, family support, number of children] (Frone et al., 1992b,
1996, 1997b; Kinnunen and Mauno, 1998; Netemeyer et al., 1996; Parasuraman et al.,
1996). For instance, it has been reported that though both sexes may experience work-
family conflicts, females tend to be more conflict-prone than their male counterparts
due to the former spending more combined time on work and family activities than the
latter (Frone et al., 1992b; Hammer et al., 1997; Lundberg et al., 1994). However, to
confirm the construct validity of WFC and FWC and to better target management
interventions for each, the unique antecedents of each must be clearly delineated.
The works of Adekola (2006), Ajaja (2004), and Williams and Warrens (2003)
assessed gender differences in burnout at the workplace, work-family conflict and
managerial efficiency of the managers in Nigeria. Their findings revealed that role
conflict experienced by the managers resulting from work-to-family interface has
detrimental effects on their performance. Also, female managers were found to be less
effective in managing organizational resources than male managers based on work-
family role conflict. This is because female managers tend to experience work-to-
family role conflict than the male managers do. This finding still requires further
empirical verification which the present study seeks to do. Again, existing literature
suggests two hypotheses concerning gender differences in domain sources conflict:
domain flexibility and domain salience. The domain flexibility hypothesis predicts that
the work domains are greater sources of conflict than the family domain for both men
and women. The domain salience hypothesis predicts that the family domains are
greater sources of conflict for men than the work domain (Lzaeli, 1993). Evans and
Bartolome (1999) claim that the work domain is less flexible, so work affects family
life more than the reverse and there is no gender difference. But for Cooke and
Roussoau (1994) conflict is greater from the domain that is more salient to the person’s
identity. Therefore, women will experience more conflict from the family domain and
men from the work domain.
Still on gender differences, Ajaja (2004) noted that women might experience
more role conflict as a result of simultaneity of their multiple roles. Evidence from
research have shown that some family domain pressures like the effects of the presence
of young children (Ciarrochi et al., 2001), spouse time in paid work (Akinjide, 2006;
Poele, 2003) and work domain pressures like number of hours worked per week
298 Dartey-Baah
(Akinboye, 2003) are associated with work-family conflict. However, Pleck, Starnes,
and Lang (1990) discovered that specific conditions that contribute most to the work-
family conflict (WFC) were: excessive working hours, scheduling incompatibilities,
and physically/psychologically demanding duties that cause fatigue and irritability.
Thus, men were more likely than women to report WFC caused by excessive work time
whereas women more than men were likely to report WFC caused by schedule
incompatibilities. Thus, no gender differences were found in the pattern of asymmetry.
In a similar vein, Drago (2002) had predicted that women, because of responsibilities in
the household, would have greater interferences from family-to-work than men; and
that men, because of a strong work allegiance, would have greater interferences from
work-to-family than women.
With regard to the age of respondents, studies have shown a negative correlation
between age and work-family conflict. For instance, a study done by Hsu (2011) with
Taiwanese correctional officers revealed that age is significantly and negatively
correlated with work-family conflict. Similar studies by Andreassi and Thompson
(2007) revealed a close relationship of age with work-family conflict.
Studies that examine the characteristics of work domain as predictors of work-
family conflict have established that employees in managerial and professional
positions report higher levels of work-to-family conflict than those working in non-
managerial and non-professional positions (Duxbury and Higgins, 2003). For instance,
among Spanish employees, Carnicer et al. (2004) discovered that there were differences
in the job category level with respect to work-family conflict whereby top managers
experienced greater work-to-family conflict than their subordinates in the lower
category.
Related to the managerial position is employee’s educational qualification.
Employees with a master or doctoral degree experienced greater WFC and FWC than
employees with high school education. A study of female Malaysian operators, clerks,
secretaries, nurses and physicians found that physicians experienced the greatest
intensity of work-to-family conflict. However, operators experienced the greatest
intensity of family-to-work conflict (Aminah, 2007). Thus, the current study seeks to
establish the differences in WFC and FWC based on the discussed demographic
characteristics of respondents.
D. Hypotheses
Based on the literature reviewed, the following hypotheses are formulated to guide the
study:
H1. WFC will be positively related to FWC.
H2a. WFC will be negatively related to job satisfaction.
H2b. FWC will be negatively related to job satisfaction.
H3a. Males will experience more WFC than females.
H3b. Females will experience more FWC than males.
H4a. Older workers will experience less WFC than younger ones.
H4b. Older workers will experience more FWC than younger ones.
H5. Scores of WFC and FWC differ across respondents’ position in the organization.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 299
IV. METHODOLOGY
A. Sample and Procedure
Data used in this study were purposively obtained from corporate leaders in the Accra
Metropolis of Ghana. Firms were first of all sampled at random from a predetermined
list of businesses. The criteria for inclusion were those firms who have operated for
more than a year in the metropolis. Thus, a sample of 5 businesses from the study’s
predetermined list of businesses qualified for the study. Questionnaires with an
introductory letter assuring respondents of their confidentiality and anonymity were
self-administered to a total of 120 participants. Of the 120 questionnaires distributed,
100 completed questionnaires were returned yielding a response rate of 83 percent.
The demographic characteristics of respondents can be broken down as follows:
67 percent corporate leaders were males while 33 percent were females; 10 percent
were below 26 years of age, 55 percent were between the ages of 26-35; 18 percent
were between the ages of 36-45, and 17 percent were above 45 years. Again, 39 percent
were top level managers, 33 percent middle level managers and 28 percent clericals
(lower level managers). Additionally, 82 percent were graduates, 15 percent had only
professional qualifications and 3 percent educated only up to secondary education level.
B. Measures
All items, other than demographic characteristics of respondents, were captured using a
six-point Likert-type scale with responses ranging from disagree very much (1) to agree
very much (6). Negative items were reversed in coding for the purpose of alignment
with the other items. Thus, a higher score indicates greater variable strength. All
questionnaire items were self-developed by the researcher. One sample Kolmogorov-
Smirnov Test for normality of data was employed for this study. From the analysis, the
p-value for work-to-family conflict (WFC), family-to-work conflict (FWC) and JS (Job
satisfaction) were all greater than 0.05 indicating that the data was normally distributed.
C. Work-Family Conflict
Work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) items were
developed to measure corporate leader’s perception of the degree to which work
interferes with family life and also the degree to which family life interferes with work
responsibilities. A sample item for WFC is “The demands of my work interfere with
my home family life”. A sample item for FWC is “My home life interferes with my
responsibilities at work”. Cronbach’s coefficient alpha, an internal consistency measure
was used to establish the reliability of this section of the instrument. The alphas for
WFC and FWC were 0.88 and 0.87 respectively. This means that the instrument was
appropriate and reliable.
D. Job Satisfaction
Items measuring job satisfaction where self-developed by the researcher. In all 6
positive items measured corporate leaders’ level of job satisfaction. The average score
300 Dartey-Baah
of the 6 items was used to assess the attitude of respondents regarding their job content.
A sample of an item for the scale is “The ambiance at office is absolutely favorable for
work”. The coefficient alpha for Job satisfaction was 0.72.
V. RESULTS
The means, standard deviations, correlations and internal consistency reliabilities for
the measures (work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict and job satisfaction)
used in this study are reported in Table 1. Likewise previous studies, WFC and FWC
were highly and positively correlated (r = 0.60, p < 0.01). In terms of work-family
conflict and job satisfaction, work-to-family conflict (r = −0.34, p < 0.01) and family-
to-work conflict (r = −0.34, p < 0.01) are significantly and negatively related to job
satisfaction, indicating that Ghanaian corporate leaders who experience work-family
conflict (WFC and FWC), tend to have lower job satisfaction. The results in Table 1
thus provide initial support for H1, H2a, and H2b.
To investigate the differences in work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-
work conflict (FWC) based on gender, an independent samples t-test analysis was
conducted in this study. The dependent variables (WFC and FWC) were entered first
followed by the independent variable (gender). Table 2 presents the results of the
independent samples t-test analysis.
The results in Table 2 show that no significant difference exists between work-
to-family conflict of male (M=23.2, SD=8.06) and female (M=22.85, SD=8.95)
respondents, [t (60) = 0.16, p > 0.05)]. Similarly, there was no significant difference in
family-to-work role conflict of male (M=14.62, SD=7.87) and female (M=15.1,
SD=7.32) Ghanaian corporate leaders, [t (60) = -0.23, p>0.05)]. This, therefore,
indicates that no gender differences were found in the patterns of WFC and FWC. Thus
the results in Table 2 do not support H3a and H3b.
With regard to differences in WFC and FWC based on age category of
participants, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to investigate the
differences if any in the dependent variables (WFC and FWC). The results in Table 3
indicates that a statistically significant difference was recorded in WFC across the four
age categories, [F (3, 56) = 3.62, p < 0.05]. Nevertheless, no significant difference
occurred in FWC, with respect to the age category of the respondents [F (3, 56) = 2.67,
p>0.05]. Thus, H4b is rejected.
To further elaborate the significant difference in WFC based on the age of
respondents, a Post-Hoc test of multiple comparisons using Tukey Honesty Significant
Difference (HSD) was conducted to ascertain which group means in the independent
variable (age category) differed from which others with respect to the dependent
variable (WFC) which proved significant at the 0.05 alpha level. The Tukey HSD test
proved that the actual difference in means existed between the age range of 46-55 years
(M=29.40) and 18-25 years (M=19.00). It can, therefore, be deduced from the analyses
that work-to-family conflict increases with one’s age. Thus, the older you are, the more
work-to-family conflict you will experience. This also does not support H4a.
Lastly, differences in the scores of WFC and FWC based on managerial position
were tested using one-way ANOVA. The outcome of the analysis as illustrated in Table
4 shows that no significant difference occurred in WFC [F (2, 57) = 0.41, p > 0.05] and
FWC [F (2, 57) = 2.16, p > 0.05] across the three managerial levels or positions.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 301
Table 1
Means, standard deviations, correlations, and internal consistency reliabilities
Variables
Mean
SD
1
2
3
1. Work-to-family conflict
23.10
8.23
(0.88)
2. Family-to-work conflict
14.78
7.63
0.60**
(0.87)
3. Job satisfaction
25.52
7.06
−0.34**
−0.34**
(0.72)
Notes: n=100; **p < 0.01, all two-tailed tests; reliability estimates appear in parentheses along the diagonal
Table 2
T-test analysis of differences in WFC and FWC based on gender
Gender
Mean
SD
Df
t
p-value
Male
23.22
8.06
60
0.16
0.82
Female
22.85
8.95
Male
14.62
7.87
60
−0.23
0.87
Female
15.10
7.32
Note: n =100; df =60; p > 0.05 (no significant difference occurred)
Table 3
One-way ANOVA of differences in WFC and FWC based on Age
Age category
Mean
F
p-value
18-25 years
19.00
3.62
0.02*
26-35 years
21.24
36-45 years
25.18
46-55 years
29.40
18-25 years
10.67
2.67
0.06
26-35 years
13.55
36-45 years
16.09
46-55 years
19.90
Note: n =100; df =3, 56; *p < 0.05 (significant difference exist)
Table 4
One-way ANOVA of differences in WFC and FWC based on position
Age category
Mean
F
p-value
Top level management
22.17
0.407
0.67
Middle level
23.86
Clerical
21.76
Top level management
16.00
2.16
0.13
Middle level
16.05
Clerical
11.59
Note: n= 100; df =2, 57; p > 0.05 (no significant difference recorded)
302 Dartey-Baah
VI. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study show that, significant positive relationship exist between
WFC and FWC as indicated by the role theory framework (Kahn et al., 1964; Pleck,
1977); the systems approach (Hammer et al., as cited in Boyar et al., 2007; Westman,
2002, 2001) and the framework of Ling and Powell (2001) in the proposed work-family
conflict model in Figure 1. However, this finding is in discord with the theoretical
argument advanced by Bryon (2005), and Mesmer-Magnus and Viswesvaran (2005)
that WFC and FWC are distinct but reciprocally related. Again, George (2000) and Tsui
et al. (1992) in their studies discovered that family (work) interference with work
(family) has some negative consequences on the extent to which employees will be
satisfied with their works and committed to their career aspirations.
Similarly, this study has also found that work-to-family conflict and family-to-
work conflict have negative effect on job satisfaction. This indicates that Ghanaian
corporate leaders who experience a higher level of either conflict tend to have less
satisfaction with their work. Thus, given the demanding work requirements of
Ghanaian corporate leaders in terms of supervisory practices, meeting attendances,
traveling schedules, record keeping, decision-making and other evaluative assignments,
it is not surprising that those who experience work-to-family conflict have lower levels
of job satisfaction. Again, this result is consistent with the theoretical framework of
Ling and Powell (2001) as well as results of previous studies undertaken in other
occupations and settings (Frye and Breaugh, 2004; Anderson et al, 2002; Kossek and
Ozeki, 1998; Netemeyer et al., 1996).
Moreover, unlike Ajaja (2004), Drago (2002), and Lzaeli (1993) who argue that
female (women) because of responsibilities in the household would have greater
interferences from family-to-work than male (men), and that male (men), because of a
strong work allegiance, would have greater interferences from work-to-family than
female (women), this study has found that no significant difference exist in WFC and
FWC between male and female corporate leaders in Ghana. Again, the results of the
study are in disagreements with Frone et al. (1992a), Hammer et al. (1997), and
Lundberg et al. (1994) who report that females tend to be more conflict-prone than their
male counterparts due to the former spending more combined time on work and family
activities than the latter. This may also suggest that Ghana male corporate leaders
appear to be more supportive of their spouses in undertaking house chores; a shift from
the usual traditional thinking of less supportive male spouses in that regard.
However, in accordance with this study is the conclusion drawn by Pleck et al.
(1990) in their research that work and family boundaries are asymmetrically permeable
and that gender differences that exist with regard to this has been debunked. In
consequence, no gender difference exists with respect to work-family conflict.
This study has also found a significant difference in work-to-family (WFC)
conflict within the age range of Ghanaian corporate leaders. Thus, the finding
hypothesizes that conflict in families emanating from workplace is significantly and
positively related to the age range of Ghanaian corporate leaders. Thus, the older one
becomes the more work-to-family conflict he/she is likely to experience. This study
thus reject the findings of Hsu (2011), and Andreassi and Thompson (2007) that state
that age is significantly and negatively correlated with work-family conflict.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUSINESS, 20(4), 2015 303
A. Managerial Implications
Research has shown that work-family conflict has a negative impact on organizational,
family, and personal outcomes (Frone et al., 1992a and 1997a). The findings of this
study calls for further interrogation into conflicts experience in both directions and their
mitigating measures by business organizations. The study implies that corporate entities
should find ways to hold constant or reduce perceptions of work and family demand,
along with other direct variables of WFC and FWC. For instance, organizations can
reduce workloads, limit the number of roles assigned to employees in different levels,
and provide resources as well as encourage support from colleagues in completing task
assignments.
Besides, since dissatisfaction at work can affect productivity, it implies that
firms should develop keen interest in issues of this bi-directional concept. This can be
possible and beneficial by redesigning jobs to make them more interesting and
challenging (Hackman and Oldham, 1980). Thus, if employees enjoy their work and
find it valuable, then they may potentially work even harder than they usually do.
Results from this study also indicate a significant difference in age category
based on work-to-family conflict. This difference, however, depicts a positive
relationship between age and work-to-family conflict. The study implies that
assignment of roles and task to different age categories in a firm should be done with
care. This is because a higher task assignment or over challenging jobs to older
employees potentially means more conflict at home and this in turn will negatively
affect productivity.
In conclusion, the study supports past research stating that, among a number of
antecedent factors, work-family conflict is a vital factor which significantly affects job
satisfaction. This study thereby contributes to the existing work-family conflict
literature and divulges the effect of respondents’ demographic characteristics on this
complex, multi-dimensional, bi-directional construct.
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