Work-family enrichment: Sharing Malaysians experiences

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2 Work-family enrichment: Sharing Malaysians experiences Zaiton Hassan Maureen Dollard Tony Winefield Work and Stress Research Group Center for Applied Psychological Research University of South Australia

3 Introduction Work-family enrichment refers to positive experiences gained from resources in one role which improve performance in another role, either directly or indirectly through instrumental or affective paths (Carlson et al., 2006). Most research came from Western developed countries perspectives

4 Definition Enrichment WFE WORK FAMILY FWE

5 Objectives 1. To examine both directions of enrichment (WFE and FWE) to satisfaction (job, family, community and life) 2. To examine relationship between demographic characteristics and enrichment 3. To examine relationship between collectivist characteristics and enrichment

6 Enrichment and satisfaction Work-family enrichment and work-family conflict are two different constructs that can exist simultaneously (Gryzwacz & Marks, 2000) Has different antecedents and outcomes from conflict, usually in opposite direction of conflict (Hill, 2005) Same domain effect. E.g. WFE positive to job satisfaction, FWE to family satisfaction. Both positive to life satisfaction (Aryee etal.,2005; Wayne et al., 2006)

7 Hypothesis H1a: WFE will be positively related to job and life satisfaction H1b : FWE will be positively related to family, community and life satisfaction

8 Usual demographics characteristics examine in work-family study RQ1 Based on demographic characteristics (gender, age, highest education, number of children at home, marital status, household chores hours and working hours) which groups of respondents will report higher WFE and FWE?

9 God is important in Muslim countries (Triandis,2006). Malaysians are religious (Ahmad, 1996) RQ2 Based on collectivist variables (elderly care, length of stay in area, number of own and spouse s relatives living nearby, importance of religion and perception of religiousness) which groups of respondents will report higher WFE and FWE?

10 Method Participants: 506 (Time 1) executives, non - executives. married, single, male and female. Survey. Agencies: 3 government and 3 private sectors Measure: WFE - Carlson et al., 2006, Alpha.67 to.92 Procedures : Through HR managers Stats: Pearson Correlation, One way ANOVA, SEM KUALA LUMPUR KUCHING

11 Sample enrichment items Work to Family Enrichment (WFE) My involvement in my work helps me to understand different viewpoints and this helps me to be a better family member. My involvement in my work puts me in a good mood and this helps me to a better family member

12 Family to Work Enrichment (FWE) My involvement in my family requires me to avoid wasting time and this helps me to be a better worker. My involvement in my family helps me acquire skills and this helps me to be a better worker

13 Results : Demographics Male (56%) Non executives (74%) 35 to 55 years old (63%) Married (78%) 1 to 9 children (74%) 11 yrs education (32%) Bachelors degree (20%) Malay (44%) Other Bumiputra (33%) Chinese (22%) Muslim (50%) Christian (38%) Buddhist (9%) Religion is important (74%) Religious (72%) More than 16 own relatives (50%) Spouse s relatives (49%)

14 WFE M = 3.85 Age (r=.10*) FWE M = 4.23 Own relatives (r=.11*) Spouse relatives (r=.11*) Both Elder care (r=.10*,.11*) Importance of religion (r=.22**,.16**) Religious (r=.24**,.16**) All satisfactions

15 One Way ANOVA Ethnic group : Malay (WFE and FWE) Religion : Muslim (WFE and FWE) Age : years old (WFE)

16 Job.23 Religi on WFE FWE Family Comm unity Chi sq= Chi sq/df= 2.99 CFI=.94 TLI =.89 RMSEA = Life

17 Discussion Higher enrichment (WFE and FWE): 1. Malay ethnic, Muslim, age years old 2. Believed religion is important in life and perceived themselves as religion Religion as an effective coping skills; satisfactory life to generosity of God (Noor, 1999)

18 FWE higher than WFE, similar to other Western studies (e.g. Hill, 2005) Value or self concept is more strongly associated with family than work, positive spillover from family to work is more likely to occur (Carlson et al., 2006) Strengthen the importance of family in a collectivist society. Including extended family and relatives. May explain family and community satisfaction

19 WFE and job satisfaction. Same domain effect (Carlson et al., 2006; Haar & Bardoel, 2008) When work resources could lead to better family functioning, more satisfied with job. In collectivist context, family prosperity is important and work is one of the ways to achieve it. E.g. In Malaysia: send salary to family (Ariffin, 1994), women work for family s economy instead of self interest (Noor, 1999).

20 Conclusion Similar to Western studies: 1. FWE higher than WFE 2. Same domain effect (WFE to job satisfaction; FWE to family satisfaction) Different from Western studies: Usual demographic characteristics did not correlate with enrichment Aspects of religion are important to enrichment

21 Project Work-life balance among Malaysians employees has have been selected for inclusion in the overall compendium of activities for the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Plan of Action

22 Erwin Bolwidt... flickr.com