Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Examining the Relationships Between Personality, Coping Strategies, and Work–Family Conflict

  • Published:
Journal of Business and Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the processes through which personality characteristics may influence work–family conflict (WFC). Specifically, the mediating effects of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) behavioral stress-coping strategies on the relationship between personality characteristics and WFC were tested.

Design/Methodology/Approach

A snowball sampling technique was used to recruit 289 working adults, who completed online questionnaires. The proposed model was tested using path analysis.

Findings

Conscientiousness and agreeableness were related to greater usage of work and family behavioral coping strategies, and these behavioral strategies influenced levels of experienced WFC. Negative affect was found to have direct effects on work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW), and emotional stability was found to have a direct effect on WIF conflict.

Implications

Findings suggest that different processes underlie the influence of specific personality characteristics on WFC. These findings can have implications for the effectiveness of training programs and interventions aimed at reducing work–family conflict levels of employees, in that trainers and managers should take into account the strong influence of individual factors on a person’s choice of coping strategies.

Originality/Value

The examination of the processes through which personality characteristics may influence work–family conflict (WFC) has not received adequate attention. This article advances work–family conflict research by examining the mediating role of behavioral strategies aimed to cope with competing demands of work and family roles in the relationship between individual difference variables and WFC.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andreassi, J. K., & Thompson, C. A. (2007). Dispositional and situational sources of control: Relative impact on work–family conflict and positive spillover. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 722–740. doi:10.1108/02683940710837697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P. B., & Baltes, M. M. (Eds.). (1990). Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral sciences. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, P. B., Baltes, M. M., Freund, A. M., & Lang, F. R. (1999). The measurement of selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) by self-report: Technical report 1999. Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, B. B., & Dickson, M. W. (2001). Using life-span models in industrial-organizational psychology: The theory of selective optimization with compensation. Applied Developmental Science, 5, 51–63. doi:10.1207/S1532480XADS0501_5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes, B. B., & Heydens-Gahir, H. (2003). Reduction of work–family conflict through the use of selection, optimization, and compensation behaviors. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 1005–1018. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.6.1005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 41, 1–26. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1991.tb00688.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brief, A. P., Butcher, A. H., George, J. M., & Link, K. E. (1993). Integrating top-down and bottom-up theories of subjective well-being: The case of health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 646–653. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.64.4.646.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bruck, C. S., & Allen, T. D. (2003). The relationship between big five personality traits, negative affectivity, type A behavior, and work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63, 457–472. doi:10.1016/S0001-8791(02)00040-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butt, Z. A., Strauss, M. E., Smyth, K. A., & Rose-Rego, S. A. (2002). Negative affectivity and emotion-focused coping in spouse caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 21, 471–483. doi:10.1177/073346402237633.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caligiuri, P. M. (2000). The big five personality characteristics as predictors of expatriate’s desire to terminate the assignment and supervisor-rated performance. Personnel Psychology, 53, 67–88. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2000.tb00194.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlson, D. S., Kacmar, K. M., & Williams, L. J. (2000). Construction and initial validation of a multidimensional measure of work–family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 249–276. doi:10.1006/jvbe.1999.1713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, M. A., Bal, A., Zhdanova, L., & Baltes, B. B. (2009, April). A qualitative analysis of strategies for coping with work–family stressors. Interactive poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, New Orleans, LA.

  • Connor-Smith, J. K., & Flachsbart, C. S. (2007). Relations between personality and coping: A metaanalysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1080–1107. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.93.6.1080.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dierdorff, E. C., & Ellington, J. K. (2008). It’s the nature of the work: Examining behavior-based sources of work–family conflict across occupations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 883–892. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.4.883.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eby, L. T., Casper, W. J., Lockwood, A., Bordeaux, C., & Brinley, A. (2005). Work and family research in IO/OB: Content analysis and review of the literature (1980–2002). Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66, 124–197. doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2003.11.003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, J. R., & Rothbard, N. P. (2000). Mechanisms linking work and family: Clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs. Academy of Management Review, 25, 178–199. doi:10.2307/259269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, T. D., Selgrade, K. A., & Germano, L. M. (2006, May). On the use of partial covariances in structural equation modeling. Paper presented at the 21st Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Dallas, TX.

  • Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1980). An analysis of coping in a middle-aged community sample. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 21, 219–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (1998). Selection, optimization and compensation as strategies of life management: Correlations with subjective indications of successful aging. Psychology and Aging, 13, 531–543. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.13.4.531.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (2002). Life-management strategies of selection, optimization, and compensation: Measurement by self-report and construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 642–662. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.82.4.642.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Friede, A., & Ryan, A. M. (2005). The importance of the individual: How self-evaluations influence the work–family interface. In E. E. Kossek & S. Lambert (Eds.), Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frone, M. R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M. L. (1992). Antecedents and outcomes of work–family conflict: Testing a model of the work–family interface. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 65–78. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.77.1.65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frone, M. R., Russell, M., & Cooper, M. L. (1997). Relation of work–family conflict to health outcomes: A four-year longitudinal study of employed parents. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 70, 325–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, L. R. (1999). A broad-bandwidth, public-domain, personality inventory measuring the lower-level facets of several five-factor models. In I. Mervielde, I. Deary, F. De Fruyt, & F. Ostendorf (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe (Vol. 7, pp. 7–28). Tilburg, The Netherlands: Tilburg University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenhaus, J. H., Allen, T. D., & Spector, P. E. (2006). Health consequences of work–family conflict: The dark side of the work–family interface. In P. L. Perrewe & D. C. Ganster (Eds.), Research in occupational stress and well-being (Vol. 5, pp. 61–98). Amsterdam: JAI Press/Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grzywacz, J. G., & Marks, N. F. (2000). Reconceptualizing the work–family interface: An ecological perspective on the correlates of positive and negative spillover between work and family. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 111–126. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.5.1.111.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heckathorn, D. D. (1997). Respondent-driven sampling: A new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems, 44, 174–199. doi:10.1525/sp.1997.44.2.03x0221m.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooker, K., Frazier, L. D., & Monahan, D. J. (1994). Personality and coping among caregivers of spouses with dementia. The Gerontologist, 34, 386–392.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hoyle, R. H. (1995). Structural equation modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, L. R., & Mazerolle, M. D. (2002). Personality in work organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jöreskog, K., & Sörbom, D. (2004). LISREL 8.8: User’s reference guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahana, E., Kahana, B., & Zhang, J. (2005). Motivational antecedents of preventive proactivity in late life: Linking future orientation and exercise. Motivation & Emotion, 29, 438–459. doi:10.1007/s11031-006-9012-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinnunen, U., Vermulst, A., Gerris, J., & Makikangas, A. (2003). Work–family conflict and its relation to well-being: The role of personality as a moderating factor. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1669–1683. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00389-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kossek, E. E., Lautsch, B. A., & Eaton, S. C. (2005). Flexibility enactment theory: Implications of flexibility types, control and boundary management for work–family effectiveness. In E. E. Kossek & S. J. Lambert (Eds.), Work and life integration: Organizational, cultural, and individual perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee-Baggley, D., Preece, M., & DeLongis, A. (2005). Individual differences in coping across time: Role of the Big 5 Personality Dimensions. Journal of Personality, 73, 1141–1180. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00345.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lefcourt, H. M. (1991). Locus of control. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (Vol. 1, pp. 413–499). San Diego, CA: Academic Press, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loehlin, J. C. (1998). Latent variable models: An introduction to factor, path, and structural analysis. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1986). Personality, coping, and coping effectiveness in an adult sample. Journal of Personality, 54, 385–405. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1986.tb00401.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., & John, O. (1992). An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 60, 175–215. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Michel, J. S., & Clark, M. A. (2009). Has it been affect all along? A test of work-to-family and family-to-work models of conflict, enrichment, and satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 163–168. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.02.015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noor, N. M. (2002). Work–family conflict, locus of control, and women’s well-being: Tests of alternative pathways. Journal of Social Psychology, 142, 645–662. doi:10.1080/00224540209603924.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Parkes, K. R. (1986). Coping in stressful episodes: The role of individual differences, environmental factors and situational characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1277–1292. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1277.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt, A. K. (2006). Role of cognitive ability and personality factors in coping with work-family conflict. Doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University, 2006. Dissertation Abstracts International, AAT 3211006.

  • Penley, J. A., & Tomaka, J. (2002). Associations among the Big Five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress. Personality and Individual Differences, 32, 1215–1228. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00087-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeffer, J. (1998). Understanding organizations: Concepts and controversies. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 733–777). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rees, D. W., & Cooper, C. L. (1992). The occupational stress indicator locus of control scale: Should this be regarded as a state rather than trait measure? Work and Stress, 6, 45–48. doi:10.1080/02678379208257038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80, 1–28.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Somech, A., & Drach-Zahavy, A. (2007). Strategies for coping with work–family conflict: The distinctive relationships of gender role ideology. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12, 1–19. doi:10.1037/1076-8998.12.1.1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, G. L., & Barrick, M. R. (2004). Four lessons learned from the person-situation debate: A review and research agenda. In D. B. Smith & B. Schneider (Eds.), Personality and organizations. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strentz, T., & Auerbach, S. M. (1988). Adjustment to the stress of simulated captivity: Effects of emotion-focused vs. problem-focused preparation on hostages differing in locus of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 652–660. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.55.4.652.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Valecha, G. K., & Ostrom, T. M. (1974). An abbreviated measure of internal–external locus of control. Journal of Personality Assessment, 38, 369–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D. (1988). Intraindividual and interindividual analyses of positive and negative affect: Their relation to health complaints, perceived stress, and daily activities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1020–1030. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1020.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1994). The PANAS-X: Manual for the positive and negative affect schedule-expanded form. Cedar Rapids: University of Iowa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Hubbard, B. (1996). Adaptational style and dispositional structure: Coping in the context of the five factor model. Journal of Personality, 64, 735–774. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1996.tb00943.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wayne, J. H., Musisca, N., & Fleeson, W. (2004). Considering the role of personality in the work–family experience: Relationships of the big five to work–family conflict and facilitation. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 64, 108–130. doi:10.1016/S0001-8791(03)00035-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiese, B. S., Freund, A. M., & Baltes, P. B. (2000). Selection, optimization, and compensation: An action-related approach to work and partnership. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 57, 273–300. doi:10.1006/jvbe.2000.1752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, L. M., Baltes, B. B., & Pratt, A. K. (2007). Using selection, optimization, and compensation to reduce job/family stressors: Effective when it matters. Journal of Business and Psychology, 21(4), 511–540. doi:10.1007/s10869-007-9039-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Boris B. Baltes

  2. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Ludmila S. Zhdanova

  3. Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Malissa A. Clark

Authors
  1. Boris B. Baltes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ludmila S. Zhdanova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Malissa A. Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Boris B. Baltes.

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 3.

Table 3 Sample items from the SOC questionnaire
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Baltes, B.B., Zhdanova, L.S. & Clark, M.A. Examining the Relationships Between Personality, Coping Strategies, and Work–Family Conflict. J Bus Psychol 26, 517–530 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9207-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9207-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation