Examining the Relationships Among Work–Life Constructs: A Review

Abstract

Although there has been much research conducted on the work–life interface, the absence of an integrated review of its conceptualization is mystifying to many researchers. This study addresses this gap in the work–family research. The purpose of this article is to review and synthesize existing literature on the work–life interface. The article examines the conceptualization of the key constructs of work life interface, such as work–family conflict (WFC), work–family enrichment (WFE), and work–life balance (WLB), and draws differences among them. The study contributes to the work–family research by giving clarity about the meaning and relationship of work–life constructs. The study also gives an idea about the measures used in empirical work–life studies. The article concludes by suggesting propositions and a model which offers directions for future work–life researchers. The main limitation of this study is that it may have overlooked studies which are inaccessible or unpublished and having focused on research articles only in English. To the best of our knowledge, this study is among a few articles which attempted to understand the conceptualization of three work–life constructs simultaneously.

When Work Conflicts With Personal Projects: The Association of Work-Life Conflict With Worker Wellbeing and the Mediating Role of Mindfulness

“…The original scale also includes a subscale related to an additional dimension (i.e., behavior-based conflicts), but it was not included for the purpose of the study. The scale was recently identified as one of the most commonly used measures to assess work-family conflict ( Bansal and Agarwal, 2020 ). Carlson et al (2000) have shown the reliability of each subscale, as well as their construct validity (e.g., time-based WLC related positively to the level of work involvement, strain-based WLC related negatively to family and life satisfaction).…”

The role of resilience in the work-life interface: A systematic review

“…Throughout this review, the term "work-life interface" will be used to refer to the relationship between work and non-work domains. This umbrella term includes three different facets [5]: a) negative facet (i.e., conflict), b) positive facet (i.e., enrichment), c) and integrative facet (i.e., balance).…”

Work–life balance: a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

“…The literature review by Gatrell et al (2012) and Agarwal and Lenka (2015) focused on the specific direction of parenthood and WLB, and WLB of women entrepreneurs, respectively, while structured literature review of Munn and Chaudhuri (2016) was directed toward WLB of dual-earner couples in India and the United States. Further, a meta-analysis review of meaning and measurement of WLB was carried out by Casper et al (2018), a review of conceptualization of work-life constructs by Bansal and Agarwal (2020), and a SLR on WLB in Asia by Le et al (2020). A literature review on WLBPs perspective was presented by Chaudhuri et al (2020).…”

“…Further, a meta-analysis review of meaning and measurement of WLB was carried out by Casper et al. (2018), a review of conceptualization of work–life constructs by Bansal and Agarwal (2020), and a SLR on WLB in Asia by Le et al. (2020).…”