Outcomes of work–life balance on job satisfaction, life satisfaction and mental health: A study across seven cultures
Author: Jarrod M. Haar, Marcelo Russo, Albert Suñe, Ariane Ollier-Malaterre
Year: 2014
Theory
Integration theory
Enrichment theory
Measurement
Gender egalitarianism was also assessed by coding cultures using the GLOBE scores.
Collectivism was assessed by coding cultures using GLOBE scores for in-group collectivism.
Anxiety and depression were assessed using 6-items.
Life satisfaction was measured using the 5-item scale.
WLB was measured using a 3-item measure.
Job satisfaction was measured using 3-items.
Hypothesis
Moderating effects of gender egalitarianism
H6: Gender egalitarianism will moderate the relationship between WLB and individual outcomes, such that:
- H6: The positive relationship between WLB and (a) job satisfaction and (b) life satisfaction will be stronger in countries higher in GE.
- H6: The negative relationship between WLB and (c) anxiety and (d) depression will be stronger in countries higher in GE
Moderating effects of individualism/collectivism
H5: Individualism/collectivism will moderate the relationship between WLB and individual outcomes, such that:
- H5: The positive relationship between WLB and (a) job satisfaction and (b) life satisfaction will be stronger in countries higher in individualism.
- H5: The negative relationship between WLB and (c) anxiety and (d) depression will be stronger in countries higher in individualism
Work Life Balance
H1: WLB will be positively related to job satisfaction across cultures.
H2: WLB will be positively related to life satisfaction across cultures.
H3: WLB will be negatively related to anxiety across cultures.
H4: WLB will be negatively related to depression across cultures.
Implication
Encouraging employees to recognize and celebrate their success in balancing roles (when achieved) and to elongate the time frame upon which they to gauge their work–life balance is also critical to foster greater benefits through understanding the potential changing nature of WLB.
Organizations should invest in promoting WLB by implementing work–life policies, such as flexible working hours, and by embracing a supportive work culture that encourages employees to use the work–life policies that are available in the organization
Achieving WLB may hold the key to greater job and life satisfaction, and diminished mental health issues, and this may hold in many countries.
Population
Sample
Location
The average age was 37.6 years, gender was fairly evenly split (55% female) and the majority were married (70%) and parents (61%). 46.8% of them are from a private sector, 48.5% from the public sector and the remaining 4.6% are from not-for-profit organisations
Seven samples includes
Italy
France
Spain
Malaysia
China
New Zealand (Maori)
New Zealand
The combined sample includes 1416 employees of whom 546 come from collectivistic cultures (Maori, Malaysia and China).
Main findings
Regarding GE, they found that the beneficial effects of WLB on job and life satisfaction were most salient for individuals living in highly gender egalitarian cultures.
The negative relationship between WLB and anxiety was stronger for those living in high GE cultures. This implies that achieving WLB in high GE cultures is likely to enhance the beneficial effects of role balance on mental health.
In individualistic cultures, individuals generally have full responsibility for achieving WLB.
Regarding I/C, high levels of WLB were more positively associated with job and life satisfaction for individuals in individualistic cultures, compared with those in collectivistic cultures.
Strong and consistent support across all cultures for WLB to be associated with outcomes in the expected directions
