Balancing Work and Family Obligations in Pakistan and the Netherlands: A Comparative Study

Abstract

A study of 486 banking employees in Pakistan and the Netherlands investigated the effect of work‐family conflict on psychological contract breach of work‐family balance obligations. The results showed that 127 Dutch respondents were more likely to experience work interference with family than employees in Pakistan, despite the fact that Pakistanis have longer working hours than their Dutch counterparts. The relationship between family overload and work interference with family, however, was stronger among the 359 Pakistani study participants. In addition, the positive association between work interference with family and employees’ psychological contract breach of work‐family balance obligations was significant for the Pakistani respondents but not for the Dutch study participants. This analysis contributes to the work‐family and psychological contract literature by observing cross‐national differences in work‐family overload and work‐to‐family conflict and their effects on psychological contract breach. It also suggests practices to address the challenge of managing the work‐family interface in both developing and developed nations. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cross-cultural work and family research: A review of the literature

“…This clearly tempers the theoretical progression in the area. Nonetheless, empirical results have generally supported the notion that the work demands-WF constructs link is stronger in individualistic versus collectivistic countries (e.g., Jin et al, 2013 with work-family conflict;Spector et al, 2004;Spector et al, 2007;Syed et al, 2015), although two studies found the opposite pattern (Jin et al, 2013 with work-to-family enrichment;Yang et al, 2000).…”

“…-Collectivism (vs. individualism) moderates the relationship between work demands and work-to-family conflict such that the relationship is weaker in more collectivistic cultures because: o In collectivistic cultures work is viewed as a means to enhance family well-being and therefore work demands are not likely to be interpreted in a way that leads to work-to-family conflict (Aycan, 2008;Lu et al, 2006;Spector et al, 2004;Spector et al, 2007;Syed et al, 2015). o The large amount of family support available in collectivistic cultures serves as a buffer so that work demands have less of an impact on work-to-family conflict (Jin et al, 2013;Spector et al, 2007).…”

“…This may extend to other outcomes, such as work role effectiveness and absenteeism (Yang, 2005) and job satisfaction (Jin et al, 2013;Lu et al, 2010). o Collectivists are more likely to form long-term relationships with their employers due to the focus on social groups and therefore will be less likely to perceive a breach of the psychological contract after experiencing work-to-family conflict (Syed et al, 2015). -Collectivism (vs. individualism) moderates the relationship between WF balance and positive work outcomes such that the relationship is weaker in more collectivistic cultures because: o WF balance is seen as more essential in individualistic cultures where work and family are viewed as more distinct (Haar et al, 2014).…”

“…Many of the arguments used to predict mean differences carry over to antecedents of conflict. That is, the fact that work and family are more integrated psychologically in collectivistic cultures with work being seen as a means to enhance family (Aycan, 2008;Lu, Gilmour, Kao, & Huang, 2006;Spector et al, 2004;Spector et al, 2007;Syed, Arain, Schalk, & Freese, 2015) and that more family support is available to serve as a buffer (Jin et al, 2013;Spector et al, 2007) are used as explanations for why work demands will not have as strong of an impact on work-to-family conflict/enrichment in more collectivistic contexts. Some unique ideas are mentioned as well, such as the greater availability of paid domestic labor in collectivistic cultures which can help buffer the impact of work demands on work-to-family conflict relationship (Spector et al, 2007), and some divergent predictions (i.e., that the work demands-WF conflict link is stronger in collectivistic societies because of the way work and family are interdependently construed; Yang, Chen, Choi, & Zou, 2000).…”

“…Collectivism was noted in seven studies to serve a weakening effect in the relationships between work-to-family conflict and work as well as non-domain specific outcomes. Several distinct forms of rationale are provided, including the more long-term orientation toward employers, the meaning of work and family, and less of a tendency to focus on own needs in collectivistic cultures (Aryee et al, 1999;Jin et al, 2013;Lu et al, 2010;Posthuma, Joplin, & Maertz, 2005;Spector et al, 2007;Syed et al, 2015;Wang, Lawler, Walumbwa, & Shi, 2004;Yang, 2005). Others have made arguments for a similar buffering effect of Confucian values (Jin et al, 2013).…”