A study of work-family conflict: The role of exchange relationships and gender

Abstract

The conflict and balance between family and work lives have become important issues for families and organizations because of the increase in dual-earner couples. The current study examines antecedents and moderators of work-family conflict (WFC) among dual-earner couples from a multi-theoretical perspective. Based on social exchange and social support theories, leader-member exchange (LMX) and partner exchange were proposed as antecedents of WFC. Further, based on gender role ideology theory, we propose gender and spouse’s gender role ideology as moderators of these relationships. The results of a survey of 205 dual-earner couples in Sri Lanka show that partner exchange and LMX are negatively related to family interference with work (FIW) and work interference with family (WIF) conflicts respectively. In addition, there was a 3-way interaction such that spouse’s gender role ideology moderated the relationship between LMX and WIF conflict differently for men and women. There was also support for cross-over effects among couples. Implications for individuals and organizations are discussed.