commentary 5

Moderators of the Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Career SatisfactionAuthor(s): Luis L. Martins, Kimberly A. Eddleston, John F. VeigaSource: The Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Apr., 2002), pp. 399-409Published by: Academy of ManagementStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3069354 .Accessed: 09/02/2011 01:07

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? Academy of Management Journal 2002, Vol. 45, No. 2, 399-409.

MODERATORS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT AND CAREER SATISFACTION

LUIS L. MARTINS University of Connecticut

KIMBERLY A. EDDLESTON Northeastern University

JOHN F. VEIGA University of Connecticut

In this study, we examined the moderating effects of individual differences and sources of support on the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Data from 975 managers indicated that the relationship was significant for women irrespective of age but was significant for men only in later career. Moreover, the relationship was stronger for individuals who were in the minority gender in their work groups, but it was weaker for those who had strong community ties. Implications are discussed.

Career satisfaction has been linked to several important organizational outcomes, such as organizational commitment (e.g., Carson, Carson, Phillips, & Roe, 1996; Igbaria, 1991), intentions to leave, or "turnover intentions" (e.g., Igbaria, 1991), and support for organizational change (Gaertner, 1989). Recently, researchers have suggested that an important determinant of career satisfaction is work- family conflict (Powell & Mainiero, 1992). Work- family conflict has been defined as follows: "a form of interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect. That is, participation in the work (family) role is made more difficult by virtue of participation in the family (work) role" (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985: 77). In the past, the effect of work-family conflict on an individual's career satisfaction was not a significant issue, since career paths in organizations were developed with the expectation that jobs would "be filled by a family man who has a wife to manage the household, allowing his full attention to be given to the job" (Nieva, 1985: 175). However, researchers have argued that in a workforce that is increasingly com- posed of individuals in "posttraditional families," work-family conflict may have a significant impact on how individuals view their career outcomes (Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Schneer & Reitman, 1993; Stroh & Reilly, 1999).

We would like to thank Gary Powell, John Mathieu, Deborah Kidder, and Kelly Hewett for their contributions to this research.

In particular, researchers have suggested that because of recent changes in the demographic characteristics of the U.S. workforce and the conse- quent challenges faced by employees in balancing their work and family lives (e.g., Stephens & Som- mer, 1995), there is a real need to take work-family conflict into account in models of career satisfaction (Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Schneer & Reitman, 1993). Thus, in this study, we had two primary objectives: (1) to empirically test the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction that has been alluded to in the literature (e.g., Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Schneer & Reitman, 1993; Stroh & Reilly, 1999) and, more importantly, (2) to extend understanding of this relationship by examining several factors that may moderate it. The type of work-family conflict that we examined was work-to-family conflict, in which the strain and demands of one's work role spill over into one's family/personal role (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998).

THEORY AND HYPOTHESES

Work-family conflict has been found to be negatively related to several variables that are linked to career satisfaction, such as career progression (Stroh, Brett, & Reilly, 1996) and career involvement (Tenbrunsel, Brett, Maoz, Stroh, & Reilly, 1995), and to other types of satisfaction, such as job and life satisfaction (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998). Thus, in keeping with recent theorizing (e.g., Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Schneer & Reitman, 1993; Stroh &

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Reilly, 1999), we expected to find that work-family conflict was negatively related to career satisfaction.

Hypothesis 1. The greater individuals' per- ceived work-family conflict, the lower will be their career satisfaction.

Moderators of the Relationship between Work- Family Conflict and Career Satisfaction

The literature suggests that several variables may moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. In particular, in view of existing research, we expected that individual differences, including gender, age, marital status, and parental status (Blau, Ferber, & Winkler, 1998; Gordon & Whelan, 1998; Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Singh, Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Collins, 1998), and sources of support that may help individuals cope with work-family conflict, including coworkers and community and financial resources (Ely, 1994; George & Brief, 1989; Veiga, 1983), would affect the weight that individuals placed on work-family conflict in assessing their career satisfaction. Also on the basis of previous research, we expected that individuals with different family demographic characteristics would perceive the impact of the same level of work-family conflict differently. Therefore, the extent to which work- family conflict affects career satisfaction may vary depending upon an individual's family demographic characteristics. Also, support may affect how well individuals can cope with work-family conflict and therefore, may mitigate the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction.

Individual Differences

Gender. Prior research suggests that women, on the average, place greater stress on their family roles than do men (e.g., Gutek, Searle, & Klepa, 1991). For example, in balancing their work and family roles, women tend to assign fixed priorities to their family responsibilities that are independent of work demands, whereas men tend to employ a compensatory approach and are more likely to trade off family responsibilities against work responsibilities (Tenbrunsel et al., 1995). Thus, because women tend to give their family roles greater priority, the career satisfaction of women is likely to be more negatively affected by work-family conflict than that of men.

Hypothesis 2. Gender will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the negative

effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction will be stronger for women than for men.

Age. According to many career models, individuals may view their careers differently depending on which age-related career stage they are in (Judge, Cable, Boudreau, & Bretz, 1995; Veiga, 1983). In particular, researchers have observed that in early stages of their careers, individuals are often willing to sacrifice their personal lives in the interests of their career progression (Gordon & Whelan, 1998). However, as individuals advance in age to the maturity stage of their careers, they have been found to place a greater emphasis on a balance between their work and family lives when assessing their careers (Gordon & Whelan, 1998). Thus, because of the greater priority that individuals give to their family roles as they age, the career satisfaction of older individuals is likely to be more negatively affected by work-family conflict than that of younger individuals.

Hypothesis 3. Age will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the older an individual, the stronger will be the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction.

Marital and parental status. Prior research has found that being married leads individuals to give their personal lives priority over their work lives (Blau et al., 1998). Similarly, being a parent in- creases the importance to individuals of their family roles (Blau et al., 1998; Singh et al., 1998). Because of the greater priority that individuals give to their family roles once they get married and/or have children (Blau et al., 1998), they may be more likely to be dissatisfied when their work roles spill over into their family roles than are individuals who are not married and/or do not have children. Thus, we expect the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction to be stronger for those individuals who have a spouse and/or children than for those who do not.

Hypothesis 4. Marital status will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction will be stronger for married individuals.

Hypothesis 5. Parental status will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction will be stronger for individuals who are parents.

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Martins, Eddleston, and Veiga

Sources of Support Sources of support provide a "buffering effect"

that helps individuals deal with work-family conflict (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985: 86; Singh et al., 1998). Support may be socioemotional to the extent that it helps individuals emotionally cope with work-family conflict (Singh et al., 1998), or resource-based to the extent that it provides resources to help individuals cope with work-family conflict (George & Brief, 1989). In this study, we focused on three important sources of support: an individual's coworkers, community, and household financial resources.

Coworkers. Because an individual's work group is an important social group, the individual's relationships with work group members can be a source of socioemotional support that may help him or her deal with work-family conflict (Ste- phens & Sommer, 1995). Research on the effects of work group composition on interpersonal relationships has shown that individuals in the minority in their work groups in terms of gender are less likely to have supportive relationships with coworkers than are individuals who are part of the majority gender (e.g., Ely, 1994; Kanter, 1977; Tsui, Egan, & O'Reilly, 1992). Therefore, being in a gender minority may reduce the availability of support from coworkers. Without such support, which could serve to buffer the negative impact of work-family conflict, an individual is more likely to experience lower career satisfaction as a consequence of work- family conflict. Therefore, we expected that work- family conflict would be found to have a greater negative effect on the career satisfaction of individuals who are in the minority gender in their work groups.

Hypothesis 6. Minority gender status will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction will be stronger for individuals who are in the minority gender in their workgroups.

Community. An individual's community ties can be important sources of socioemotional and resource support. "Community ties are so important because they provide individuals with a network to help with schooling decisions, getting a job, and personal problems that may arise" (Blau et al., 1998: 296). Veiga (1983) found that managers who highly valued their community ties were less im- patient with their careers, more satisfied generally, and less frustrated with their careers. Thus, because community ties are an important source of

support that can help individuals cope with work- family conflict, we expected to find that the strength of community ties would moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction for individuals.

Hypothesis 7. The strength of an individual's community ties will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the stronger an individual's community ties, the weaker will be the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction. Financial resources. Individuals with greater fi-

nancial resources are better able to afford a variety of services-for instance, a nanny or child care- that may help them cope with potential work- family conflicts that otherwise could detract them from investing time and energy into their careers (Blau et al., 1998; George & Brief, 1989; Gordon & Whelan, 1998). Given the availability of such resource-based coping mechanisms to individuals with greater financial resources, we expected these individuals to be less likely to have work-family conflict impede their ability to meet career demands, such as those associated with travel, relo- cation decisions, and longer work hours (Blau et al., 1998; Schneer & Reitman, 1993). As such, higher levels of financial resources are likely to dampen the negative effects of work-family conflict on an individual's career and enhance his or her potential for career satisfaction.

Hypothesis 8. Financial resources will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Specifically, the greater an individual's financial resources, the weaker will be the negative effects of work- family conflict on career satisfaction.

METHODS

Sample Data for this study were collected as part of a

larger study of the determinants of individuals' career outcomes. We used a snowball sampling approach, which is a commonly used means of ob- taining data from a variety of firms in various industries (e.g., Tepper, 1995). We asked in-career MBA students at a large state university in the eastern United States to voluntarily participate in the research as one option for earning extra credit. Of 200 students asked, 176 agreed to participate. They were asked to identify up to ten individuals from the managerial and/or professional ranks of their companies and to request them to anony-

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mously fill out surveys and return them to us di- rectly via postage-paid envelopes. In order to reduce spurious effects produced by gender differences and background characteristics, volun- teers were told that for every person they identi- fied, they should attempt to identify another person of the opposite gender who was similar in age (?5 years) and from the same organization, division, functional area, and geographical region.

In total, 975 completed surveys were returned out of the approximately 1,350 distributed, yield- ing a response rate of 72 percent. Responding managers and professionals were from over 100 companies in over 26 industries and from various functional backgrounds. The women in the sample were on the average eight months younger than the men (36.2 vs. 36.9 years old), and they were somewhat less likely to have graduate degrees (26.3% vs. 34.6%). There were no significant differences in functional area between the men and women. The women in the sample were less likely to be married (60 percent were married, versus 69 percent of the men) and to have children (43.9 percent had no children, versus 32.6 percent of the men). Whereas total family income was similar, on the average, for the men and women, the women in the sample earned salaries that were $7,200 less than the men ($54.12k vs. $61.32k). Finally, we drew our sample from a single geographic area, thus essentially controlling for cost of living differences.

Variables

Control. We controlled for several career outcomes-specifically, financial outcomes, rate of advancement, and degree of autonomy and power- that have been found to be significant predictors of career satisfaction (e.g., Judge et al., 1995; Schneer & Reitman, 1993). Financial outcomes were measured using (1) a respondent's current salary and (2) the average yearly increase in salary over a respondent's career. Career advancement was measured using (1) a survey item asking the respondent to indicate the likelihood that he or she would be offered a promotion in the next five years (1, "extremely unlikely"; 7, "extremely likely"), which has been shown to be highly correlated with super- visors' estimates of an employee's likelihood of promotion (Stout, Slocum, & Cron, 1987), (2) an item, developed by Cannings and Montmarquette (1991), asking respondents to indicate the number of promotions they had been offered over the past five years, and (3) management level achieved, based on respondents' indicating whether their po- sition was upper, middle, or lower management, or nonmanagement. Autonomy was measured as the

respondent's time span of discretion-that is, the targeted completion time of their longest task, project, or program (Jacques, 1979). Finally, power was assessed as visibility to top management; a survey item asked respondents to indicate the per- centage of their average work week that they spent in activities that brought them into direct contact with top management (Veiga, 1983).

Dependent. Career satisfaction was measured using three items, two originally developed by Childs and Klimoski (1986) to measure career satisfaction, and one developed by Dunnette, Camp- bell, and Hakel (1969) to measure advancement satisfaction. Respondents indicated, on a seven- point Likert scale, whether (1) in general, they were satisfied with their career status, (2) in general, they were satisfied with their present jobs, and (3) they felt that their progress toward promotion was sat- isfactory. Factor analysis revealed a single factor (a = .79).

Independent. We measured work-family conflict using a scale consisting of three items obtained from a study by Powell, Posner, and Schmidt (1984). This variable measures work-to-family spillover, which has been found to affect job satisfaction more than does family-to-work spillover (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998). Respondents indicated on a seven-point Likert scale whether (1) anxiety about their jobs frequently spilled over into their home (personal) lives, (2) their jobs prevented them from spending the time with their families or friends that they would like, and (3) they had to give up attend- ing important functions at home if these conflicted with important job-related functions. By choosing these items, we sought to make our measure applicable across all family demographic groups in our sample, while getting at the three aspects of work- family conflict-strain, time, and behavioral- noted by Greenhaus and Beutell (1985). Although the three items strongly loaded onto a single factor (the average loading was .76 in the exploratory and .62 in the confirmatory factor analyses), the scale's coefficient alpha of .64 was somewhat low, owing in part to the small number of items and our attempt to develop a broadly applicable measure. We also computed a composite reliability score for the scale and found it to be .66, which is in between the minimum cutoff of .60 and the preferred cutoff of .70 (Hatcher, 1994).

Moderator. Gender, age, marital status, and parental status were self-reported by respondents; of these, age was measured as a continuous variable, and gender, marital status, and parental status were dummy-coded. Women were coded 1 and men, 0; married individuals were coded 1 and unmarried

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or divorced individuals, 0; and parents were coded 1 and nonparents, 0.

Minority gender status was dummy-coded 1 if an individual belonged to the minority gender in his or her work group (that is, the person's gender comprised less than 25 percent of the work group) and 0 if not, on the basis of information reported by the respondent. The 25 percent cutoff to denote minority status is consistent with findings regarding the effects of gender composition in diversity research (e.g., Tsui et al., 1992). Community ties were measured with a scale developed by Veiga (1983), which consisted of six items (for instance, "I'm involved with various community groups"). Responses were on a five-point scale and were av- eraged to create the final score. The coefficient alpha for the scale was .72, with all items loading onto a single factor. On the basis of a measure of financial requirements developed by George and Brief (1989), we calculated a financial resources index by dividing total household income by the number of individuals in the household (adults plus every child living at home under 23 years of age).

RESULTS

Table 1 presents descriptive statistics and correlations for the variables in the model.

Table 2 presents the results of the hierarchical regression analysis. The variables were entered into the regression equation in four steps. The control variables were entered in the first step, the independent variable was added in the second step, the moderator variables were added in the third step, and the interaction terms obtained by multiplying the moderator variables by the independent variable were added in the fourth step. We used the centering procedure suggested by Aiken and West (1991) for regression analysis using interaction terms. As expected, most of the control variables significantly affected career satisfaction. In particular, a respondent's salary (p < .001), likelihood of promotion (p < .05), promotion offers received (p < .001), and management level achieved (p < .01) were all significantly related to career satisfaction (Table 2, model 1).

Hypothesis 1, which states that work-family conflict will be negatively related to career satisfaction, received strong support (Table 2, model 2). The greater the work-family conflict experienced by an individual, the lower was her or his career satisfaction (p < .001).

Hypothesis 2, which states that work-family conflict will be more strongly associated with low- ered career satisfaction for women than for men,

was supported. The interaction of gender and work-family conflict was significant at the .05 level (Table 2, model 4) and explained a significant amount of variance (p < .05) when entered last after the other interaction terms were entered into the hierarchical regression equation in a previous step. To explore the nature of the interaction, we computed the partial correlation between work-family conflict and career satisfaction separately for men and women while controlling for the control variables. Whereas work-family conflict was not found to be significantly related to career satisfaction for men (r = -.07, n.s.), it was strongly related to career satisfaction for women (r = -.23, p < .001).

Hypothesis 3, which states that the older an individual, the stronger will be the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction, was supported. The interaction between age and work-family conflict was significant at the .01 level (Table 2, model 4) and explained a significant amount of variance (p < .01). To explore the nature of the interaction, we divided the sample into three age groups of equal size (up to 32 years of age, between 33 and 39, and 40 and over) and computed the partial correlation between work- family conflict and career satisfaction as before. The results did support our hypothesis that the career satisfaction of older individuals will be more strongly affected by work-family conflict, but we did not find the increasingly strong, negative relationship between the two variables that we had expected to find with an increase in age. Instead, work-family conflict and career satisfaction were significantly, negatively related for the youngest third of the sample (r = -.13, p < .05) and for the oldest third (r = -.32, p < .001), but not for the middle third (r = -.06, n.s.).

To explore this anomaly, we tested for a three- way interaction among work-family conflict, gender, and age, since prior research has suggested that, owing to considerations such as timing of motherhood, women and men of similar ages may perceive their careers differently (e.g., Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Stroh & Reilly, 1999). The three- way interaction term was entered into a hierarchical regression equation as the last step, after the following: the control variables; the independent variable; gender and age, entered as moderators; and the two-way interactions among work-family conflict, gender, and age. The three-way interaction term was significant at the .10 level.

To explore the nature of the interaction, we computed partial correlations between work-family conflict and career satisfaction separately for men and for women in the three age groups. The results

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TABLE 1 Descriptive Statistics and Correlations

Variable Mean s.d. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1. Salary 57,755 23,453 2. Average increase in salary 3,616 5,493 .29*** 3. Likelihood of promotion 4.55 2.03 -.02 .10** 4. Promotions offered 1.46 1.24 .07* .18*** .35*** 5. Management level achieved 2.00 0.99 .49*** .11*** .01 .14*** 6. Time span of discretion 9.91 10.60 .27*** .03 .06 .06 .17*** 7. Visibility to top management 24.93 24.58 .16*** .09** .15*** .12*** .21*** .05 8. Work-family conflict 3.82 1.32 .09** .00 .01 .05 .15*** .02 .11** 9. Gender 0.49 0.50 -.15*** -.06 -.07* .02 -.08* -.03 -.00 -.01

10. Age 36.57 8.20 .36*** -.09** -.39*** -.22*** .31*** .12*** -.01 -.07* -.05 11. Marital status 0.65 0.48 .24*** -.01 -.08* .05 .17*** .10** .05 -.01 -.10*** .26*** L2. Parental status 0.62 0.49 .26*** -.01 -.15*** -.06 .20*** .09** .02 -.01 -.13*** .45*** .47*** 13. Minority gender status 0.17 0.37 -.01 .00 -.01 .04 .05 .02 .03 -.02 .17*** -.03 .03 -.02 14. Community ties 2.58 0.79 -.15*** -.09** -.06 -.06 -.04 -.14*** -.02 .03 .10** -.01 .05 -.01 .05 15. Financial resources 41.36 19.49 .46*** .22*** .04 .04 .23*** 11** .11** 06 .15*** .07* -.21*** -.45*** -.07* -.05 16. Career satisfaction 4.75 1.37 .22*** .07* .15*** .19*** .20*** 10* .12*** -.10** -.01 .02 .07* .00 .01 .07* .14***

n = 975. * p < .05

** p < .01

*** p < .001

1 1 1 1 1 1 1


TABLE 2 Results of Hierarchical Regression Analyses for Career Satisfaction

Variables Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

Step 1: Control Salary .17*** .17*** .17** .14* Average increase in salary -.03 -.03 -.03 -.01 Likelihood of promotion .09* .08* .08* .07t Promotions offered .13*** .13*** .13*** .14*** Management level achieved .11** .13*** .13** .13*** Time span of discretion .05 .05 .06* .06t Visibility to top management .04 .05 .05 .05

Step 2: Independent Work-family conflict -.15*** -.15*** -.06

Step 3: Moderator Individual differences

Gender .01 .01 Age -.00 -.02 Marital status .01 .02 Parental status -.01 .00

Support Minority gender status -.06 -.06* Community ties .12*** .12*** Financial resources .03 .05

Step 4: Interaction terms Gender x work-family conflict -.11* Age x work-family conflict -.10** Marital status x work-family conflict -.02 Parental status x work-family conflict .04 Minority gender status x work-family conflict -.07* Community ties X work-family conflict .06* Financial resources x work-family conflict .03

R2 .10 .13 .14 .17 Adjusted R2 .10 .12 .13 .14 F 13.10*** 14.14** 8.78*** 6.95*** AR2 .02** .02* .03***

n = 975. p < .10

* p < .05 **p < .01

** p < .001

indicated that work-family conflict was significantly, negatively related to career satisfaction for women but not for men, in the youngest (r = -.19, p < .05 for women, and r = -.08, n.s. for men) and middle (r = -.20, p < .05 for women, and r = .08, n.s. for men) age groups. However, work-family conflict was significantly, negatively related to career satisfaction for both women (r = -.36, p < .001) and men (r = -.26, p < .01) in the oldest age group.

Hypothesis 4, which states that marital status will moderate the relationship between work- family conflict and career satisfaction, was not supported (Table 2, model 4). Also, Hypothesis 5, which states that parental status will moderate the

relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction, was not supported (Table 2, model 4).

Hypothesis 6, which states that the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction will be stronger for individuals belong- ing to the minority gender in their work groups, was supported. The interaction between minority gender status and work-family conflict was significant at the .05 level (Table 2, model 4) and explained a significant amount of variance (p < .05). The results indicated that the relationship was stronger for minority gender work group members (r = -.32, p < .001) than for nonminority gender members (r = -.12, p < .01).

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Hypothesis 7, which states that the strength of an individual's community ties will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction, was marginally supported. The interaction of work-family conflict and community ties was significant at the .10 level (Table 2, model 4) and explained a marginally significant amount of variance (p < .10). Partial correlation analysis indicated that the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction was strongest for respondents who reported weak community ties-that is, the bottom third of the sample (r = -.19, p < .001)-but it decreased in strength as community ties increased (for the middle third, r =

-.15, p < .05; top third: r = -.13, p < .10). Hypothesis 8, which states that financial re-

sources will moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction, was not supported (Table 2, model 4).

DISCUSSION

Understanding the factors that affect employees' career satisfaction is important for organizations seeking to develop motivated and committed work- forces (Gattiker & Larwood, 1988; Igbaria, 1991; Judge et al., 1995). One such factor that has gained prominence in the literature on careers is work- family conflict (e.g., Powell & Mainiero, 1992; Stroh & Reilly, 1999). Specifically, we focused on work-to-family conflict, since prior research has found this type of work-family conflict to be more strongly related to career outcomes than family-to- work conflict (Kossek & Ozeki, 1998). In this study, after empirically demonstrating that work-family conflict is negatively related to career satisfaction in general, we sought to examine factors that mod- erated this relationship.

We found that the career satisfaction of women and that of older individuals of both genders was the most adversely affected by work-family conflict. Whereas women's career satisfaction was negatively affected by work-family conflict throughout their lives, men showed such adverse effects only in later career, when they were 40 and older. These findings are consistent with previous research that suggests that men and women prioritize their work and family roles differently (Tenbrunsel et al., 1995) and that, as they age, individuals are less willing to endure work-family conflict for the sake of their careers (Gordon & Whelan, 1998; Veiga, 1983). Our differential findings for men and women of different ages support the idea that women place emphasis on relationships throughout their lives (Bardwick, 1980), whereas men are more likely to sacrifice relationships for the sake of

their careers in early career. In later career, when many individuals plateau, it is likely-especially for men (Veiga, 1983)-that they will be less in- clined to prioritize career over family and personal life and, thus, they may be less tolerant of work- family conflict (Bardwick, 1986). At such a time, working long hours or traveling extensively may hardly seem worth the price.

We also found that socioemotional support mod- erated the negative effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction. The career satisfaction of individuals in the minority gender in their work groups was more adversely affected by work-family conflict, which is consistent with prior findings that being in the minority gender reduces access to supporting relationships that may help individuals weather work-related stress (e.g., Ely, 1994). On the other hand, the career satisfaction of individuals who had strong ties to their communities was less adversely affected by work-family conflict, which suggests that individuals can derive socioemotional support from community involvement that can help them deal with work-related stressors such as work-family conflict (Blau et al., 1998; Veiga, 1983). Further, community involvement may also make available resource support (for instance, church day care and outreach programs) that may help individuals cope with work-family conflict.

Contrary to expectation, the hypothesized moderating effects of marital and parental status were not found. The nonfinding with respect to marital status suggests that it may not be the presence of a spouse per se, but rather the nature of the relationship with one's spouse-for instance, the extent of assistance with housework and/or socioemotional support provided by the spouse (Blau et al., 1998; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985)-that moderates the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction. Thus, research focused on assessing the actual level of socioemotional support de- rived from a spouse and its role in dampening the negative effects of work-family conflict is war- ranted. With respect to parental status, the nonfinding would suggest that since parental responsibilities affect various individuals at different times in their careers (Gordon & Whelan, 1998; Neal, Chap- man, Ingersoll-Dayton, & Emlen, 1993), the moderating effects of having children may not easily lend themselves to cross-sectional study, but rather, may require a longitudinal approach.

We also did not find a moderating effect of financial resources. To examine whether this was a re- sult of controlling for financial outcomes, we reran our analysis without the control variables; however, the moderating effect of financial resources

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was still not significant. A possible explanation for this nonfinding is that the negative relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction may be more strongly influenced by the emo- tional rather than the resource-based issues that accompany work-family conflict. As Kossek and Ozeki noted, "[even] when supports are available, some individuals may still feel role strain ... having the ability to more easily blend roles is different from feeling bad about the enactment of a particular role" (1998: 147; emphasis added). Also, given the possibility that some individuals have other sources of financial support, such as parental contributions or an inheritance, it may be that household income does not adequately capture available resources. Here too, research assessing the availability of specific types of financial resources would be helpful.

Finally, as expected, we did not find significant "main effects" of family demographic variables on career satisfaction (Table 2, model 3). This absence of findings is consistent with prior research on the impact of demographic variables on career satisfaction, in that much of this research has shown that career satisfaction is not significantly affected by demographic factors (e.g., Gattiker & Larwood, 1988, 1989). Also, we did not find a significant relationship between the moderator variables mea- suring family demographic characteristics and work-family conflict. These nonfindings are as expected, given that prior research has demonstrated that although family demographic variables tend to be predictive of family-to-work conflict, their relationship to work-to-family conflict, our study's focus, is generally weak (e.g., Eagles, Miles, & Ice- nogle, 1997; Frone, Russel, & Cooper, 1992).

Limitations and Implications Before discussing the implications of our find-

ings, a couple of limitations of our study should be noted. First, as noted, the reliability coefficient for our measure of work-family conflict was lower than desired, likely because of the small number of items we used and our focus on using a broad measure that captured aspects of work-family conflict that applied to all demographic groups. Sec- ond, we used minority gender status to infer the level of socioemotional support provided by one's coworkers; a more direct measure would have provided a more accurate assessment. We would urge future researchers to, if possible, refine such measures.

Despite these methodological limitations, our study has important implications for research and practice. Our findings suggest that a fruitful avenue

for future research on the effects of work-family conflict on career satisfaction is to examine contin- gency factors that may provide actionable guide- lines for moving from "one size fits all" work- family benefits to ones that are more tailored to individual needs, and for developing work-family programs that go beyond practical support by pro- viding socioemotional support. In particular, future research should examine how factors that are under an organization's control, such as norms regarding the use of work-family benefits and supervisor behavior toward employees experiencing work- family conflict (Stephens & Sommer, 1995), influence the relationship between work-family conflict and career satisfaction.

From a practical standpoint, our findings suggest that, given finite resources for addressing work-family conflict, taking individual factors such as gender and age into account is important in designing work-family programs. Further, our results regarding the moderating effects of minority gender status suggest that organizations should devise mechanisms whereby employees in the minority gender in their work units can obtain access to similar others in the organization from whom they can derive social support-for instance, through organization-wide networking groups. Our results also suggest that organizations might find it beneficial to encourage their employees to develop ties to the communities in which they live, through local social or volun- teering programs.

Finally, as employee retention becomes an increasingly important concern for organizations, understanding the factors that influence an employee's career satisfaction is increasingly important, and updating models in the careers literature to account for current developments in the workforce is essential. Our findings clearly suggest that work- family conflict is an important factor that must be taken into account in such models.

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Luis L. Martins ([email protected]) is an assistant professor of management in the School of Business at the University of Connecticut. He received his Ph.D. in management from the Stern School of Business at New York University. His current research interests include managerial cognition and diversity in organizations.

Kimberly A. Eddleston is an assistant professor of management in the College of Business Administration at Northeastern University. She received her Ph.D. in management from the School of Business at the University of Connecticut. Her primary research interests include sources and effects of conflict, careers, and family firms.

John F. "Jack" Veiga is the Board of Trustees Distin- guished Professor of Management and the Northeast Util- ities Chair in Business Ethics. He currently serves as the Airbus Industrie International Scholar and a professor in and head of the Management Department in the School of Business at the University of Connecticut. He holds a DBA from Kent State University. His current research interests include the role of national culture in technology acceptance and in the functioning of top management teams.

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Article Contentsp. 399p. 400p. 401p. 402p. 403p. [404]p. 405p. 406p. 407p. 408p. 409

Issue Table of ContentsThe Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Apr., 2002), pp. 305-477Front Matter [pp. 305 - 310]From the Editors [pp. 311 - 313]Individual Creativity and Group Ability to Utilize Individual Creative Resources: A Multilevel Model [pp. 315 - 330]Social Undermining in the Workplace [pp. 331 - 351]The Antecedents and Consequences of Group Potency: A Longitudinal Investigation of Newly Formed Work Groups [pp. 352 - 368]Benefits of Multiple Roles for Managerial Women [pp. 369 - 386]Research NotesTechnology Success and Failure in Winner-Take-All Markets: The Impact of Learning Orientation, Timing, and Network Externalities [pp. 387 - 398]Moderators of the Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Career Satisfaction [pp. 399 - 409]A Network Effects Model of Charisma Attributions [pp. 410 - 420]Implementing New Manufacturing Technology: The Related Effects of Technology Characteristics and User Learning Activities [pp. 421 - 430]Predicting the Use of External Labor Arrangements: A Test of the Transaction Costs Perspective [pp. 431 - 442]Banking on Commitment: Intended and Unintended Consequences of an Organization's Attempt to Attenuate Escalation of Commitment [pp. 443 - 452]Locus of Control and Well-Being at Work: How Generalizable Are Western Findings? [pp. 453 - 466]

Back Matter [pp. 467 - 477]

commentary 5

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