Work, family and personality: A study of work-family conflict

Work-family conflict (WFC) has become an important construct in the study of individual differences at work, although the research focusing on the interaction of situational with individual differences variables has been scarce. The present study was devised to analyze the interaction between work and family situational variables, with individual dispositions measured by the alternative big five personality model in the prediction of WFC. Regression analyses indicated that work demand, work and family support, and neuroticism were the most predictive variables of work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). Besides, it was found that impulsive sensation seeking moderated the association of children age at home with FIW. The overall outcomes in the present study are somehow analogous to the results reported in the few research works carried out to date in the field, and might represent a consistent pattern of situation x person interactions. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.