Work‐Family conflict: The effect of job and family involvement

A review of past research revealed inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between job involvement and work‐family conflict. This study tested whether family involvement moderates the relationship between job involvement and work‐family conflict. Two types of family involvement (spouse and parent) and two types of work‐family conflict (job‐spouse and job‐parent) were assessed. Data were gathered via questionnaire from a sample of nonteaching professionals employed by a large public university in the northeastern United States. As hypothesized, job involvement and job‐spouse conflict were positively related for individuals high in spouse involvement and unrelated for individuals low in spouse involvement. Contrary to prediction, parental involvement did not moderate the relationship between job involvement and job‐parent conflict. Instead, job involvement was positively related to job‐parent conflict regardless of the level of parental involvement. Results are discussed in terms of standards for role performance and strength of role demands. Implications for future research are also discussed.