Impact of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict of dual-career couples

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of various workplace characteristics on work-family conflict among dual-career couples in India. Design/methodology/approach Primary data based on 393 employees belonging to dual-career couples were analyzed. Using multiple regression analysis, the study has attempted to find out the effects of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Findings The findings indicate that not all workplace characteristics effect work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Out of 13 characteristics, 8 workplace characteristics, namely, development and flexibility, co-worker support, supervisory support, job competence, self-employee control, practicing overtime, flexibility and discrimination, are found to have significant effects on work-family conflict in dual-career couples. Research limitations/implications As this study is limited to the dual-career couples employed mainly in organizations operating in India, these results may not be generalized to other areas such as traditional career couples, self-employed member of couples and in other national contexts. Practical implications It would be beneficial for organizations to understand and implicate that adoption of certain workplace characteristics provide appropriate choices, freedom and environment for dual-career employees, which further encourage them to build effective amalgamation of work and family roles suiting their individual circumstances. Originality/value This study is an important and almost first study on dual-career couples in India on such issues. As a very scant number of researches have examined the impact of workplace characteristics on work-family conflict on such extensive basis, it definitely contributes to HR literature.

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