An academic from the Department of Psychology, IIUM has examined the roles of coping and work-family facilitation in relation to work-family conflict and well-being among employed women in Malaysia – in particular, when employed women utilised different coping strategies and had positive experiences while combining work and family, how their well-being would turn out. In her PhD research, she has moved one step ahead to understand both positive and negative experiences of employed women who juggle between work and family responsibilities.
Previously, work and family research focus more on work-family conflict (Chen & Powell, 2012), that is, the negative experiences of women who are in between work and family crossroads. Some researchers acknowledge the existence of work-family facilitation among employed women by looking at its antecedents (Balmforth & Gradner, 2006) or outcomes (Grrzywacz & Butler, 2005). Regardless of the benefits of work-family facilitation, this area was largely ignored by researchers and policy makers (Barnett, 1998).
Hence, in relation to the new perspective of positive organisational psychology, Dr. Ruhaya Hussin, an Organisational Psychologist, has tested models work-family models in relation to employed women’s well-being longitudinally. Specifically, the study investigated coping and work-family facilitation as both moderators and mediators in the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being.
A two-wave panel study was conducted and data were collected with a six-to eight-month interval between Phase 1 (N = 710) and Phase 2 (N = 210). A set of questionnaires were used to collect the data from different industries (age ranged 18-60 years old; from 6 industries). Results revealed that work-family conflict predicted psychological strain, intentions to leave, job satisfaction, family satisfaction and life satisfaction cross-sectionally. No long-term effect of work-family conflict on well-being was found in this study. Perhaps, religion is a plausible explanation for this insignificant long-term direct effect, and interesting to be researched in the future, as religion influences thoughts and behaviours (Parbooteah, Paik, & Cullen, 2009), as well as giving meaning and purpose to life (Iannaccone, 1998).
The study also found that different types of coping and positive experiences of combining work and family do mediate and moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
As work-family conflict was related to adverse well-being, it is suggested that human resources practitioners to pay more attention to work-family conflict experiences among employees and to educate employers on the importance of work-family intervention programmes. In addition, as the study found the moderating effect of certain coping strategies, human resource practitioners might want to consider interventions aiming at increasing individuals’ psychological resources. On the other hand, the mediating roles of positive experiences of combining work and family might help organisations to understand the process that underlies the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being.
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About the Author:
Ruhaya Hussin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Her full profile can be found at
Note: This article gives the views of the Authors, and not the position of the Department of Psychology IIUM Blog, nor of the Department of Psychology IIUM.